When It Gets Hard 3 (m-preg story)
by WolfeFanatic
Summary: Horatio and Ryan are back, and are trying to deal with the elephant in the room, AKA Rick Stetler, along with a new criminal on their hands and an ongoing trial. Also posted on ArchiveOfOurOwn Tags: Mpreg, Horatio/Ryan, m/m, Drama, Infidelity
1. One Month

Chapter One:

Ryan Wolfe was staring at himself hard in the mirror.

5 months pregnant with twins and he was showing a lot. Definitely more-so than when he was pregnant with Alana. But of course, that was to be expected.

The babies inside his stomach were moving so much, it was sometimes painful for Ryan. Which was why he was awake at 3:00am instead of sleeping, to be ready for work a while later. The twins were just doing backflips and kicking and punching at Ryan's poor stomach, ribs, and his bladder. Really, he was just thankful that the bedroom was close to the bathroom.

He walked out of the bedroom and into the dark hallway. Everyone should have been sleeping. Alana had school later, so she definitely should have been in bed. But there she was, standing in the hallway in front of Ryan, startling him. He didn't even think she noticed him, since she continued rubbing her eyes and going into the bathroom that was next to the bedroom. Ryan tried to remain quiet, because he knew that if Alana saw him, she would immediately wake herself up and try to tag along down to the kitchen.

Because that's exactly what she always did with Horatio.

Ryan went downstairs into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator wondering what to eat. His doctor had told him that he needed to intake more iron in his diet, as people having twins were more prone to anemia. So Ryan started eating more fish and green vegetables. He even cut out coffee completely, which was hard for him. Ryan loved his coffee. But they seemed to be out of green vegetables.

Grabbing and orange from the fridge, he sat down at the table and started peeling it. Throwing the peels the 3 feet away to the already opened trashcan lid.

He could hear quiet footsteps coming down the stairs. They were soft, so he knew they just had to be Alana's. When she saw Ryan, she smiled, her sleepiness very apparent to him and sat down next to him. Ryan started to divide the orange, giving two pieces to his daughter. She ate them groggily, as her straight red hair started to fall in her face. Sometimes, landing in her mouth as she tried to eat. Ryan chuckled, moving the hair from her face for her, seeing as she couldn't be too bothered to do it herself.

Ryan kissed her forehead lightly and rubbed her arm. No words were said. No words were needed. She could stay up for a little while. He even decided to let her sleep in the room with him. She hadn't asked, but since she followed Ryan back into his room, he was sure that was what she wanted. He lifted the bedsheet, letting her crawl in and then tucked her in. Ryan then lay back down and closed his eyes, trying to sleep. This was hard, because the babies were just so restless tonight.

Alana had already closed her eyes and turned on her side. She had reached out so that she was holding onto Ryan's arm. He didn't mind it. Usually if she slept in the bed with him or Horatio, she would completely cuddle up with one of them. But since Ryan was pregnant, she knew not to do that.

And since Horatio wasn't in the bed with them, she couldn't do it to him.

Because Horatio was sleeping in the guest bedroom, just as he had for the last month.

Ryan felt like he was living in purgatory. Not as bad as Hell and not as perfect as Heaven. He and Horatio were still living together, but they didn't acknowledge each other really. Not unless Kyle or Alana were around. Kyle had obviously picked up on the fact that something was wrong, but he didn't really voice his concerns. Alana on the other hand was different. She didn't seem to know that something was up. Why were Horatio and Ryan sleeping in different beds? Well, because Horatio is still hurt and Ryan doesn't want to hurt him more. And Alana believed that without a second thought.

He didn't like the thought of lying to her. But he didn't even know how to even tell her that they were having problems either. How do you tell a child that?

Around Kyle and Alana, Horatio and Ryan spoke, sometimes smiled and cracked small jokes. But when neither of the kids were around there was nothing. Horatio didn't talk to Ryan unless he was asking about the babies. Well, that was a bit of a understatement. Horatio did speak to Ryan- he talked about the weather, news and work. He did occasionally scold Ryan when he felt that Ryan wasn't getting enough sleep or relaxing enough or eating enough vegetables. Ryan was a busy body who didn't want vegetables all the time. Horatio knew that but he wanted Ryan to lay around all day when he wasn't working.

In front of the others at the lab, they remained exactly how they usually were- professional, cordial and just a little bit personal. Even when people figured they were in a relationship, they weren't surprised when they didn't fawn over each other. That was for home and in private. So there was no difference.

Ryan shifted, trying to keep his arm still to not wake the now softly snoring Alana.

He turned his head and studied his daughter. He thought she was the most beautiful girl. Her hair was just a little bit longer than her shoulders. Ryan also swore that her hair got more and more red with each year that went by. It was more red than Horatio's had been. Her hair was getting so dark that in the right lighting, her hair looked brown. She had freckles going from her cheek to her nose, to her other cheek. Not a whole lot, but still noticeable. Her eyes were just like Horatio's. Just like her nose. Ryan thought she had his lips and not Horatio's so that was something.

He smiled at her sleeping before closing his eyes and trying to go back to sleep again. That only took him another hour to do.

When Ryan woke up, he could smell food. Of course Horatio was making breakfast. He did so at least twice a week. Ryan looked to his side and saw Alana was already watching him. She quickly leaned forward, careful not to lean against Ryan's stomach and kissed Ryan on the cheek.

"Morning, daddy."

"Good morning, Alana. Are you hungry?"

She nodded and got up out of the bed. Ryan swung his feet over the edge of the bed, wiped his eyes and then stood up. Alana had her hand out for him to take, so he did and let her lead the way downstairs. When they got downstairs, Horatio seemed to be finishing up.

"I was going to come wake you." Horatio said, looking at Alana.

"I smelled food." She answered.

He chuckled as he told her to take a seat at the table. Ryan sat down next to her, Alana leaned her body against his arm. Ryan was so incredibly tired, he was certain he could close his eyes and go to sleep again right that instant if he wanted to.

He felt Alana nudge him, waking him more.

Ryan looked down and smiled at her.

"Excited for preschool today?" Ryan asked. "It's your classmate's birthday, right?"

"Right; cake!" She exclaimed. Alana always liked her cake.

Horatio had handed Alana a plate first, and then one to Ryan before he sat down across from them. "Don't forget your appointment today at 6, Ryan." Horatio told him, reminding him for the fourth time in the last 3 days. Normally Ryan would have been annoyed by this. But he wasn't. Not in the least bit. It was just good to have Horatio saying something directed at him.

"I won't." He answered. And unfortunately for him, that was it. Horatio moved on and started talking to Alana about something. Ryan wasn't sure about what, but it got her going. He had zoned out as she got more and more animated. Not intentionally but Ryan just had a lot on his mind at the moment.

Horatio had decided he wanted to take Alana to preschool today. And that was okay with Ryan. They tended to alternate between who would take Alana to school. But lately, Horatio had been volunteering to take Alana. Ryan thought it was because now, Horatio would dismiss him from work earlier now, telling him that he needed his rest. And so Ryan would be the one to pick up Alana since it was on the way home. And Alana was pretty respectable when they got home. She would quietly tend to Domino; taking him outside to use the bathroom and then feeding him. She even played with him out in the backyard while Ryan 'rested'. Which consisted of him laying in bed or on the couch and just staring at nothingness.

But today Horatio wanted to take Alana to preschool and pick her up. Ryan was unsure of the reason today. But that was still okay.

When he walked through the doors of the lab, he walked briskly past a few people.

"Good morning, Ryan." He heard their receptionist say. Ryan always made it a point to say hello back to her since she greeted him every day.

Ryan entered a room and looked around.

Then he saw his friend.

Dave was fidgeting with something on the computer screen. He would click the mouse a few times, then start furiously typing, then he'd groan in frustration and repeat the process. Ryan chuckled a little bit, watching Dave try to fix whatever was broken. Dave didn't even turn around to know that Ryan was there.

"Damn computer has a virus." He said. "I've installed and uninstalled antivirus software. I've tried to clean the system. But nothing. I don't know what's wrong with it."

"Wow, and you're the computer guy. If you can't do it, none of us can."

"I know. I really need to clear this up. What's up with you?" He turned around.

"Oh you know, the usual. Where's Rick?"

"Looking for Delko." Dave couldn't contain his grin as he spoke. Ryan too smiled and started shaking his head, leaving the room as he said "oh no". Everyone knew that Rick Stetler looking for anyone was a problem. But Rick looking for Eric? That was just a recipe for disaster. It was not going to end well.

Ryan continued on, until he spotted Valera. He had been helping her out a lot recently since he couldn't go out on the field. Being pregnant and all. He basically helped out with anyone he could. It definitely beats doing deskwork.

When Valera saw Ryan, she had a scowl on her face. he approached with caution, which caused her to shake her head and sigh. "Sorry Ryan. I'm just in a bad mood."

"Really, I hadn't noticed. What's wrong?"

"This whole case. You know, we swabbed Holly for DNA immediately. We swabbed her clothes." She threw her hands up. "But nothing. I can't find a single thing on her. I'm starting to think she did this to herself, even though I know that's impossible."

Ryan nodded as he listened. Holly. They'd been working hard on cracking her case.

During a party that was thrown to celebrate Horatio's return, Rick had invited Holly. She was a girl he was seeing for an undisclosed amount of time. She had disappeared to the bathroom, only to be found on the front lawn of Calleigh's home. She had been hurt pretty badly. Someone had punched her a few times in the chest and stabbed her multiple times, trying to kill her. Luckily the wounds were too shallow to cause major damage, leading them to think whoever did it to her wasn't experienced. And yet, they were nowhere close to solving the case.

No one at the party had any marks on their hands to connect them to her. There was no weapon found nearby and Calleigh didn't have any of her kitchen knives missing. Somebody brought it from their own home.

Rick had taken it pretty hard. He felt so guilty and responsible for what had happened to her. Of course there was no way for him to have known, but he still took responsibility. After all, he had invited her to the party with the intention of showing her off, to make Ryan jealous. And then she was hurt.

"We'll figure it out." Ryan told her. "You're great at your job. We're all great at our jobs. We will definitely figure this out."

Valera sighed. She nodded her head and then put her hands down flat on the countertop, leaning over slightly. "I know. I guess it's back to the drawing board. Sorry Ryan, I don't really have anything to do to keep you off of desk duty."

"No, it's okay. Good luck." He told her. And then he turned and leaved the room again. He was aware of someone to the left of him. He looked and saw it was Eric, walking away shaking his head while muttering under his breath. Ryan figured that he must of just finished talking to Rick. He chuckled to himself as he turned to walk. Only he ran into someone.

Ryan made a yelping noise before covering his mouth.

Rick only looked at him with his eyebrows raised.

"Rick?"

"Can I speak to you for a moment?"

Ryan nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

Two:

Ryan had walked with Rick, following him to the elevator. When the doors opened, they both completely stopped. Of course Horatio stood there. But he only glanced at the two before stepping out, saying "excuse me, gentlemen" and disappearing down the hall. Rick shot Ryan and look, who in return just shrugged and they got in the elevator.

"He seems upset."

" _Don't_." Ryan warned.

Ryan heard him snigger. He chose to ignore it. They continued on when the elevator doors opened. Rick's receptionist said hello to them, but Rick ignored her. Ryan on the other hand said hi back, as it was only polite.

He entered Rick's office and knew the drill- shut the door. Ryan shut the door behind him and then sat down in front of Rick's desk. "Why'd you need to speak to Eric?"

"That is private business, Mr. Wolfe." Rick said. "Besides, I asked you up here. Not the other way around. You don't question me."

"Well what do you want?"

"What's going on with Holly's case? Everytime I ask, you guys have nothing new."

"Sorry Rick. There's-." Ryan started, only to have Rick slam his hand down on the desk. This startled Ryan, causing him to jump slightly.

"There's never anything. Are you guys even trying down there? Or did you just decide that since it slightly involved me you didn't want to work on it?"

Ryan frowned. "Hey, I'm sorry about what happened to Holly. And I'm sorry that you feel so responsible for it. But don't criticize what we're doing in the lab. Everyone tries their best and then some, and they're working hard on finding out who attacked Holly."

Rick still didn't seem convinced. He just sighed and then sat down in his chair. He turned his whole chair and faced the large window that overlooked the city. He started looking at it. If Ryan hadn't kind of known Rick, he would've thought that he should leave. But he knew that Rick would say something else to him. Eventually. Ryan just looked out the window, too and waited.

He finally heard Rick clear his throat. Ryan watched him, as he opened up his desk drawer and pull out a file. "Sorry."

"It's alright. You're just having a crises."

Rick chortled. "Right. So I'll see you later? Dave invited you to his house, right?"

"Yeah he did." Ryan answered slowly. "But given everything that's happened, I don't think you and I should be hanging out together."

"Why; can't trust yourself around me?"

Ryan opened his mouth to say something but his mind had suddenly gone blank. Only when Rick started laughing, did Ryan breathe out. Rick had reached over the desk and gripped Ryan's shoulders. "It's a joke. Relax a little."

"A little hard to when Horatio still thinks we're seeing each other. You know, he hasn't spoken to Eric in weeks? I feel bad about that." Ryan told him.

It was true; Horatio hadn't spoken to Eric in a while. All because Ryan had to open his big mouth. It was accidental of course. But Ryan let it slip that Eric knew about him and Rick. Granted, all Eric knew was the rumor that he himself had somewhat started. But who's to say that he didn't think it wasn't true? Ryan was sure he did. Especially since Eric hadn't spoken to Ryan either since Horatio's party. Ryan still felt bad, though. Horatio and Eric were great friends. And Horatio felt like Eric betrayed him by not telling him what was going on.

Now, he wasn't sure if Horatio still thought that Ryan and Rick were 'seeing' each other. Ryan had explained to Horatio that he and Rick had only kissed. But he wasn't so sure that Horatio had believed that. And not to mention, Rick's constant calling Ryan into his office since the party. Granted, all he ever asked was about Holly but the others didn't know that. For all they knew, Rick could have been banging Ryan right now. If they had thought that though, none of the others in the lab showed any change of attitude toward him. Of course, except Eric.

Calleigh was still nice to Ryan, smiling at him whenever they spoke. Even Walter was still nice to Ryan. He was always talking to Ryan about everything- sports, celebrities, his dates- anything. And Ryan appreciated that no one was treating him differently.

Rick pursed his lips and hummed in response. "I guess that's true. Well I guess that's it then. Let me know if you hear anything new about Holly's case."

Ryan nodded as he stood up. He started walking toward the door, but then he stopped. "Hey Rick; how is Holly?"

"She's alright. She's still shaken up since she doesn't know if someone's after her or not." He answered. "She was mad at me for a little while but she said it wasn't my fault. She's been staying with me because she's too afraid to go home."

Ryan didn't know she was staying with Rick. But then again, why would he know? Sure they talked about Holly but only about her case. Nothing ever personal. All Ryan knew was that for the last week, she'd been out of the hospital. Alexx couldn't release that information to Ryan unless it pertained to their investigation. They didn't need to know her location- only how to contact her. "Well, she's right. It's not your fault. I'll keep you updated." He opened the door before Rick could say anything else and walked out as fast as he could.

Ryan shook his head as he got back down to the floor where he was supposed to be. His mind was racing. He kept thinking about his doctor's appointment, trying to remember that Horatio would be picking up Alana today. With his pregnancy brain, Ryan sometimes found it hard to remember the smallest of things. So it was a good thing Horatio reminded him of his doctor's appointment later. He probably reminded him more times but Ryan had just forgotten.

He also thought of Holly. Ryan felt bad that they weren't any closer to finding anything in her case. A break; something. Poor girl probably was terrified that someone at any moment would attack her again, and try to kill her. And for what? What was the motive. Holly had stated she had no idea what she could have done wrong or who she could have made mad. And _of course_ , Ryan thought. Holly was perfect; perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect eyes, perfect face and body, perfect voice, perfect personality. Just perfect. How could she have possibly wronged anybody?

Not to mention the fact that Rick had admitted that his purpose of even inviting Holly to Horatio's party was to make Ryan jealous. Since Holly was now staying at Rick's place, he was sure that he hadn't told her about that.

"Ryan."

Horatio's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

Horatio handed him a stack of papers. "These have to be filed. Try to get as much done as you can before you leave. It's very important."

Ryan nodded. "Okay."

"And," Horatio hesitated, dropping his voice down to a whisper. "If Rick comes down here again for you, tell him you're busy and don't have time to fraternize or socialize today. You have a lot of work to do."

Horatio walked away, over to Calleigh and started speaking to her. Eric stood by them, not saying a word. Ryan found himself frowning at Horatio's words. He didn't think he was being fair. But then again, maybe Horatio thought the same way about Ryan. Sighing, he reluctantly went over to the desk he was so dreading sitting at. Ryan just hated doing paperwork. But it had to be done. He skimmed through the stack of papers and saw that they were all case files. Most files were solved. Some unfortunately, were not. So it was Ryan's job to organize them.

Calleigh and Eric had walked by him. Calleigh flashed Ryan a winning smile as she said hi to him. But Eric didn't even bother to look up to him, but that was to be expected. Horatio wasn't talking to Eric anymore and it was Ryan's fault.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the appointment today."

Horatio told him, leaning down to kiss Ryan on the cheek.

Kyle and Alana both smiled at the interaction.

"It's okay; you were busy."

"So, Ryan you found out the sex of the babies?" Kyle asked him. Ryan said yes, and Alana immediately got excited. She kept hoping to have little sisters. The more girls in the house, the better. At least that was what she said. " _Tell us_." Alana whined. Horatio smiled at Alana's eagerness. Even he had to admit that he was excited too.

Ryan smiled. "Okay well, we are having girls."

Alana let out a squeal of delight. Kyle congratulated Ryan, standing to hug him. Ryan hugged him back, but couldn't help but to look at Horatio during this whole thing. Horatio's face didn't seem so happy. At least not as happy as he had expected him to be.

Even now Kyle and Alana were staring at Horatio. Who in return, gave a soft smile and breathed out audibly. "Excuse me for a moment." He announced. Horatio turned and left the living room where they were all in. Alana looked incredibly confused. As did Kyle. Probably not as confused as Ryan felt.

He stood, too and followed behind Horatio.

He went into the guest room and shut the door, even though he knew that Ryan was following him. Ryan sighed as he knocked on the door and tried to keep his voice soft. "Horatio, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Was his reply.

Ryan turned the door handle, knowing that Horatio didn't lock the door. He never did. But still, Ryan usually didn't try to pry. He came inside the room and saw that Horatio was lying down on the bed. He had his arm draped across his face. His eye peeked out to Ryan, but he didn't say anything to him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong."

"You just don't seem too excited. I just announced our babies genders."

Horatio moved his arm. "I'm happy about that."

Ryan looked back and saw that Alana had came up the stairs now. He shut the door, so that she couldn't hear the conversation. "So then, what's bothering you? You were fine a few minutes ago; now it looks like you've been punched in the gut."

"I'm happy we're going to have twins. And girls, especially. That'll be fun for Alana." Horatio told him. "I'm not happy about the fact that I can't seem to enjoy this news because, well, I expected to be in a happy relationship with the person I was having kids with."

Ryan sat down on the edge of the bed. "You chose to sleep in here."

"You chose to kiss Rick. And then you chose to lie about it."

"I apologized. I know that's not much, but that's all I can do."

"You're always alone with him. Up in his office. Doing who know's what."

"Because he asks me about Holly!" Ryan defended himself, his voice raising just a little. "I don't sleep with him in his office."

Horatio removed his arm from his face, and ran his hair through his red hair. "We slept together in my office."

"But there's a difference. You're my boyfriend, and-."

"And I can't deal with being with someone who obviously has feelings for someone else." Horatio replied short. His voice still just as calm as ever. "I am ecstatic that you're pregnant. I am not with our current situation, though. I have to get ready to go now, so I'm going to go shower."

Ryan didn't bother saying anything else. He just sat there quietly while Horatio got off the bed and left the room. Ryan heard Horatio say something, probably talking to Alana. He was sure she was trying to hear what they were saying. And she'd been caught. Obviously she didn't hear much because Ryan heard her very distinct giggling.

Horatio was going to leave now. He had started going to counseling sessions paid for by the department to deal with everything that had happened. At least, that was what Ryan had thought. He really had no idea what Horatio and his counselor talked about. They could have been speaking about Horatio being taken, or even their relationship. Maybe both. But Ryan did notice a change in mood with Horatio. Not a giant one, but he did seem at least a little bit happier. Even if he wasn't happier with Ryan.


	3. Hormones

Three:

"Maybe it's just hormones."

Ryan looked at the man with such a deadpan expression that he was almost afraid of speaking some more. And here he was, just trying to help and give explanations. Ryan just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Or not. Maybe you just have a genuine crush."

"I do not have a crush on Rick!"

Dave put a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter, which only annoyed Ryan more. "Ryan if you were anymore jealous of Holly, your skin would be green instead of just parts of your eyes." Dave said. "Relax, it's normal to have crushes. Some people develop crushes when they're pregnant. It's the hormones; they are _raging_."

"I can see that, but I don't-."

"Every time someone even mentions Holly's name, you roll your eyes."

"No I don't."

"You do. You have a crush on Rick Stetler. Everyone has little crushes. It's okay; as long as you don't let it affect your everyday life. Or do anything about it, really. You have to keep your distance from him if you want it to go away. And definitely stay away from him for Horatio's sake- everytime you go to Rick's office, Horatio just huffs in anger and asks people if you're back yet."

That was new to Ryan. He knew that Horatio didn't like him going to Rick's office. But he only went up there to keep Rick updated. Ryan didn't even think he was ever in his office for a very long time. Maybe five or ten minutes at the most. "Does he really?"

"Yeah. If you want it to work with Horatio, you gotta cut down on being in Rick's office. Maybe just pass the messages to him if he wants updates on Holly's case." Dave suggested. And Ryan had to admit, that did sound like a good idea. He really couldn't stand the fact that Horatio was upset he was going to Rick's office all the time. And he could understand why he would be, too. Ryan nodded his head, agreeing with Dave. "Okay, you're right. Maybe you can pass on information to him for me?"

Dave smiled. "I'd be happy to."

Ryan suddenly felt very guilty. He watched as Dave's smile slowly started to go away. "Sorry, I didn't even think about coming to you with this." He said. "How are you doing? Do you still…?"

"Do I like Rick still? No, that ship has sailed. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Dave's eyebrows furrowed close as he wrinkled his nose- his thinking face. Then his face relaxed and he nodded. "Yeah, you know, I'm pretty sure. I wouldn't be able to deal with him anyways- our personalities clash too much. We're better as friends."

Ryan nodded. That made sense. Dave and Rick liked to bicker with each other. And it was always over dumb small things. Ryan could definitely see that getting annoying really quick. When Ryan and Rick hung out, he could admit that being in a relationship with Rick seemed tiresome. He always found something wrong with everything and always had reasons to argue with someone.

"You heard anything about Ron lately? The trial is next week, right?" Dave asked him.

Ron Saris. The guy who had made Ryan and Horatio's lives hell.

He claimed that he wasn't involved in Horatio being taken, and that it was all his ex-wife's Julia's plan. Now none of them believed that in the least bit. Julia had issues but no one thought that she could have thought of all of that. She even brought in Natalia and Dan Cooper. That didn't seem like her doing.

Julia even said that it was Ron who had orchestrated the whole thing. Even Dan said that he had spoken to Ron before, and Ron was the one who gave him instructions on what to do to Horatio. But because Rick had given Ron immunity a while ago, Ron couldn't be brought to trial.

Ron said he would testify against Julia, Natalia and Dan. But only if Ryan, Dave, and Rick wasn't there. That wasn't happening because Ryan decided he was absolutely going. And Rick was going because he had to. And Dave was going because, well, he wanted to. But all 3 were involved and they knew there was a chance that they'd have to testify. If none showed up, there was no testimony from them. And Ryan didn't want that.

"He said he wasn't coming. But he's been spotted back in Miami. I have no idea what's going on with him." Ryan answered truthfully. "He could be here for court, or he could be here to cause trouble."

"Maybe a bit of both." Dave answered.

.

.

 _Shortest chapter I've ever written, I'm sorry!_


	4. Holly

Four:

Ryan was surprised to learn that Holly wanted to meet with him.

He had doubted it had anything to do with Rick, but about her case. Which made sense.

But what didn't make sense to him was, well, why him? There were plenty of other people she could have spoken to about the case. Such as Calleigh, she probably knew more than Ryan did. Or even Eric; Ryan was sure he'd be a good person to talk to about this. But she had chosen Ryan. He wasn't sure why, but he guessed he'd find out.

It wasn't as if he could just tell her no, now could he? And he was sure Rick would get on his back if he had. Rick would probably go on another rant about how no one in the lab wants to actually help out with the case. Luckily, they would be meeting at the lab, and she wanted to speak to Ryan there. When she got there, she sat in the interrogation room and immediately started fidgeting.

She laughed and made a joke about how she felt like she was a bad guy from 'those crime shows'. Even though she joked around, Ryan had a feeling that she was very nervous. Which he guessed he could understand why but he didn't think she had any reason to be.

"Can I get you water or anything?" Ryan asked her. She shook her head no but she still reached her hand out for the glass of water that was already on the table. Ryan had brought it for her anyways, figuring he wouldn't have to get up to go get it later in case she asked. "So, you wanted to see me; assuming it's about your case?"

Holly gulped down the water and nodded. "Yeah, it's about the case."

"Is there something wrong? Or something else you remember about what happened?"

Holly nodded again. She put the now empty glass of water down but kept her hand gripped lightly around it. "So, the doctors told me there was no alcohol or drugs in my system but that can't be. I did drink that night. So when I told them that it was wrong, the doctor told me that he knew what he was doing and I must've been out of it because of the attack."

"Are you sure? The toxicology reports aren't usually wrong."

"Of course I'm sure. I remember Rick and I went back downstairs, he got a drink for me and I drank it. Then I wanted another one so I got that one myself and then afterwards, that was when I went up to use the bathroom. And then everything after that is just a blur." She said. She seemed sure that she had in fact been drinking that night. But what Ryan didn't understand was why hadn't Rick said anything?

Rick knew that it was deemed that Holly didn't have drugs or alcohol in her system. So since he was around her and knew for a fact that she had been drinking, why didn't he speak up? It just didn't make sense to him. "Holly, I know we've asked this a lot, but can you think of anybody who would want to hurt you?" He asked. "Anybody; it doesn't have to be a big reason. Maybe you cut someone off in traffic, or you talked badly about someone? Or a co-worker, even?" She had answered this many times. But she said she didn't know who would want to hurt her.

She shook her head. "No, no one comes to mind. My co-workers all love me. I never cut people off in traffic. And I definitely never talk badly about people. I'm just not like that. I don't see why anyone would want to hurt me."

"Maybe it's because of the way you act."

"Excuse me?" She seemed surprised. And Ryan too was surprised, he hadn't expected himself to say that. He shook his head quickly. "I didn't mean anything bad by it. I just meant that, well, you are pretty _perfect_. Like in every way of the word. Maybe someone is jealous of you? A sibling, or an ex maybe?"

Holly seemed to relax a little. She thought for a moment and then shrugged. "I ended on great terms with all my exes. And I don't have siblings. I don't see why anyone would be jealous of me. I'm just an average girl."

 _Average_.

"Right, well then. Who knew you were coming to the party? You and Rick were originally supposed to be going out to dinner, right?"

"Yes, but he called and insisted on going to that party. I didn't tell anyone- well, except my dad of course. But he wanted to know where I was so he wouldn't be worried."

"Your dad. And may I ask his name?"

"Sure, his name's Red."

" _Red_?"

"Yeah, like the colour." She smiled. "I know it's weird, but his parents loved the name."

Ryan felt like his brain had stopped working for a moment and maybe his ears had shut down, too. "Red? So, is his last name Cline?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"You don't have the same last name as him." Ryan answered. "I have you listed as Holly Turner."

She shook her head. "No, I have my mother's last name. Why are you asking about my dad?"

"Does Rick know your father? Or maybe you talked about him?"

"No, I don't think we're that far in our relationship yet."

Ryan nodded. Red Cline. That was the same name that was registered as the guy who tried to sign Horatio's car out of the impound lot, and the same name listed under the phone number Ryan was instructed to call. He was surprised to learn that Red Cline was a real person. A person who was related to Holly. Who was now seeing Rick. This was way too much to be a coincidence.

Nothing was adding up anymore. Ryan was unsure of how to proceed. He was sure he looked dumb, just sitting there staring at Holly. "Excuse me for just a second."

"Sure, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a moment." Ryan told her. He left the room, shutting the door behind him and making his way down the hallway. He had bumped into Calleigh, who had jokingly asked Ryan where the fire was. But he just kept going past her and into Horatio's office where he had hoped the lieutenant would be. To Ryan's delight, Horatio was there. He was seemingly reading papers on his desk but he looked startled when Ryan burst through the door.

Horatio immediately stood and his head tilted to the left. "Ryan, is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure." Ryan answered. "Holly's here and one, she told me that she was drinking alcohol that night, despite what the toxicology reports say. Meaning that either she's lying about drinking or Rick hid the fact that she was to us. Or maybe even the doctors are hiding it. And two, she told me her dad was the only one who knew she was showing up to the party Calleigh threw for you."

"Well then, I'll send someone to look into the reports again, and we'll have to speak to her father."

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, well, she told me her dad's name was Red Cline. I'm not sure if you remember but-."

"Of course I remember." Horatio told him. "And how exactly is she involved with Rick? What do we know about her?"

"I have no idea. Rick never told me anything about how they met. And as far as I know, her records are clean. She's never even had a speeding ticket."

"We'll have to speak to Rick then. Would you like to do that?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, sure." He started walking out, but then he stopped when he remembered the conversation he'd just had with Dave just a few days ago. Dave told Ryan it would be best if Ryan avoided Rick's office and well, being alone with him. He said that he should send messages to him. "Actually, maybe you could talk to Rick instead?"

"Why?"

"I just don't think I should be the one to." Ryan answered.

Horatio seemed puzzled but ultimately, he just said sure.

Ryan quickly made his way back to the interrogation room. He saw Holly sitting there, just as calm as ever. He realized Horatio hadn't given him much instruction on how to proceed with Holly. He didn't know whether or not he was supposed to ask her more questions about her father or maybe for more information about that night. Or if he should just keep his mouth shut and dismiss her. As if sensing his distress, Horatio was behind Ryan. He put his hand on Ryan's shoulder, startling him. "I'll talk to her."

"But Rick-"

"I shouldn't be the one to talk to him."

"Why not?"

"I don't like him." Horatio answered. And that was true. Horatio didn't like Rick and Rick didn't like Horatio. That was a known fact; everyone knew that. But maybe things were different now and Horatio just really didn't like Rick. Ryan just nodded his head, and Horatio removed his hand from his shoulder and went into the room with Holly. Even though the door had been shut behind him, Ryan could still hear Holly's excited voice ring out. "Hi lieutenant!" She said, very happily.

Ryan thought that was strange. Just moments earlier she was acting as if she were shy and timid. But the moment she saw Horatio she seemed so happy. Excited, even. And really who was excited when talking about them being attacked in an interrogation room?

Ryan reluctantly got into the elevators to make his way up to the IAB department. He ignored the way the people in the lab looked at him as he yet again went to Rick's department. He kept his head down and waited for the doors to close, which felt like eternity.

When Ryan made it to Rick's office, he didn't bother knocking first. It was like Rick wasn't ever surprised to see Ryan in there lately. A year ago, if Ryan had stepped foot on the IAB floor, people would lose their shit. Rick would be shocked and would probably have thought that something was up and that Ryan was there to yell at him for some reason. But now that wasn't the case anymore.

Rick just greeted Ryan and told him to come in, though he was already in the room.

"I was just getting ready to go down there to take Holly home." Rick said, as he started stuffing things into a leather black bag. "What's going on? How'd it go?"

"It went alright. Listen Rick, would you mind coming down with me to answer a few questions?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's just that something has happened that sort of affirms Holly's case and Horatio's." Ryan answered. "And I would like to talk to you about it."

Rick had stopped putting things in his bag. He leaned back in his chair and then crossed his arms. "Why would you need to talk to me? Holly has told you everything right?"

"She has told us some things that, well-."

"Make you want to question me?" Rick asked, finishing what he knew Ryan was thinking. Then Rick smiled and shook his head. "I can see it's not that serious seeing as I am not in custody right now. But to answer your question, yes, I do mind. So I'm not going to let you interrogate me."

Ryan was caught off guard. He had thought Rick would agree to talking with Ryan. It wasn't a big deal, at least not to Ryan. He just wanted to ask Rick a few questions. He didn't expect him to get so defensive and to just flat out say no. Ryan hesitated a moment before speaking again. "Can I ask why? If you've done nothing wrong, you shouldn't have a problem with it."

"Do you think I've done something wrong?"

"Well I didn't but you declining is making me question that."

Rick closed his bag. Then he stood up and shrugged. "I guess that's a risk I have to take." He answered. "Well, I gotta go; Holly and I have things to do tonight."

Rick gave Ryan a smile and then walked by him. He turned off the light, while Ryan was still in the room and left. Ryan waited a moment before leaving after Rick. He certainly didn't want to be in an elevator with Rick right now, even if it was for only 30 seconds, maximum. But the whole situation was just rubbing Ryan the wrong way.

It was just weird that Rick and Holly were seeing each other, and she just so happened to have a father by the same name as the guy who was listed as trying to get Horatio's car out of the impound lot. And also the same guy who's phone number was registered the time he had to call Horatio. It couldn't be a coincidence. And then the fact that this Red Cline guy was involved with Julia and Ron somehow, and then Holly was hurt. Then the hospital reports were wrong. The only thing that seemed to make any sense was that somehow Rick was involved. But Ryan didn't want to believe that. Not after all that Rick had done to help him and Horatio.

But it was definitely something to speak with Horatio about.


	5. Chapter 5

Five:

Ryan watched Horatio as he moved around the bedroom.

He had a towel wrapped around his waist, and his hair was damp from the shower he just took. He was going through every single drawer in the bedroom looking for a blazer.

Now Horatio had a lot of blazers. But he was looking for one in specific. To Ryan is was just a plain black blazer. But to Horatio it was his lucky shirt. Ryan thought it was a little endearing that Horatio Caine had a blazer he that he thought was lucky.

Horatio was absolutely refusing to let it go. And Ryan knew that if he didn't find it, he'd be in a fowl mood. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" Ryan asked, yet again. Although he knew that Horatio would just tell him no and that he would find it himself. And that was exactly what happened. Ryan just remained in his spot and continued to watch Horatio.

He had disappeared from the room for a few moments and Ryan could hear him rummaging through the hall closet by the bedroom. Again. At the rate Horatio was going, Ryan knew they'd be late for the first day of court. Ryan was already dressed and completely ready to go. So he could leave at any time. Even Horatio had told him that himself. But Ryan wouldn't leave Horatio. It was very important to him that they showed up together. To keep up appearances.

Sure, it was shallow. But Ryan felt that if there seemed to be problems with them, it could somehow hurt them.

And not to mention Ryan wanted to go with Horatio. Even if the car ride was silent, he still wanted to show that he supported Horatio. Especially given everything that he had gone through.

Horatio had re-entered the room, looking pretty frustrated. And Ryan had felt bad that he couldn't find the blazer. He wanted to help but he knew that Horatio would just get even more frustrated. And Ryan could understand that; today was a stressful day. Sure Horatio had been to court plenty of times. As CSI's, they all had been. But since it was because of something that had actually happened to Horatio, it was different. Horatio hadn't been sleeping right the last few days and once Ryan had awoken to Horatio in the room. Horatio had told him that he was just looking for something but Ryan had a feeling that Horatio wanted to sleep in the room.

It wasn't uncommon for Horatio to be stressed out or over thinking something. And usually when that happened, he would sleep, or at least try to, with his arms tightly wrapped around Ryan. But since they were sleeping in separate rooms, that wasn't happening. Ryan had to admit, it would have been a pleasant surprise to wake up and find Horatio there with him.

Alana had come running into the room. She held a dark grey, almost black blazer in her hands. When Horatio saw her, his face lit up in excitement. Which in turn, made Alana's face light up as well. "Where did you find it?"

"It was in a box in the basement."

"Why would it be down there?" Ryan questioned.

Horatio simply shrugged, gave Alana a small hug and she went on her way. Horatio shut the door behind her and started putting the shirt on. Ryan was impressed on how Horatio was adjusting with using only one arm getting dressed. It was a little struggle in the beginning, but he was doing fairly well now.

When Horatio had gotten his pants on, he gave himself a look in a mirror.

"You look fine." Ryan told him. "A little nervous, but you look fine."

Horatio started messing with his hair and sighed.

"We have to get going, Horatio. We don't want to be late."

"Yeah, alright. Are you ready?"

"I've been ready." Ryan answered.

Ryan got off of the bed and opened the door as Horatio sat down to put his shoes on. He made his way downstairs and saw Alana sitting on the couch, drawing a picture with Kyle sitting on the floor. He was in front of the TV, with his gaming system hooked up. He was staring intently at the screen with his face scrunched up and he furiously pushed buttons.

He had come over voluntarily to watch Alana while Ryan and Horatio were out. They both thought that was nice, but they also figured his goal was to use their television which was much larger compared to his. But they didn't mind it, as long as he paid attention to Alana. And made sure she didn't get into trouble.

Horatio made his way down the stairs and then sighed heavily. He approached Ryan and then stopped. "I think I'm ready."

Ryan nodded and said goodbye to Kyle and Alana. Alana yelled out saying good luck, though she really had no idea what she was wishing luck for. Horatio and Ryan had told her that they had to go make sure a 'bad person' got put away. And that was enough for Alana. Kyle though, was upset. That was to be expected. He was old enough for Horatio to tell him exactly what happened. And hearing that his own mother wanted to kill him, his dad and his half-sister was, shocking to say the least. He obviously didn't take it too well but he seemed to be holding up alright. Ryan was just worried about how Kyle would handle things later. Kyle barely paid attention to them, only making a grunting sound to show he heard them. But his eyes never left the TV screen.

When they made it to the courthouse, Horatio tensed up. There were already a ton of reporters outside. Which made sense. The public had no idea that Horatio Caine was still alive up until about a month ago. After Dan Cooper had confessed to 'killing' him and being arrested, people believed him. And they decided to just go with it- not confirming nor denying it. And it helped that hospital staff weren't permitted to disclose information about who was and was not a resident. So when people would call in and ask if Horatio Caine was alive and in the hospital, the staff would tell them they weren't permitted to answer that. With him not in the public eye, people just assumed it was true. And that was a good thing, seeing as they had no idea if there were still people out there who wanted to hurt him. They still didn't know if that was the case.

When Horatio had left the hospital, people started saying that they had spotted him leaving. But they couldn't confirm it. Then people started seeing him going in and out of the lab. That got more people talking. That got a lot of attention. And now people wanted to question Horatio about his experience and about what really happened to him while in captivity.

"It'll be alright." Ryan told him. Horatio looked surprised that Ryan had said anything. "Just avoid people, and don't make eye contact with any of them."

Horatio just nodded and opened the car door. They both got out and began walking toward the doors. It seemed Horatio took Ryan's advice, and he kept his focus down on the ground. Ryan had taken his hand into his own and guided him to the doors. The reporters and curious court-goers were shoving their cameras in Horatio's face and one even knocked into his arm. Ryan was angry and felt that they were going too far, but he let it go.

He could see Calleigh and Eric's faces. They were both standing at the front of the door, waiting for Horatio and Ryan. When they got up the steps of the courthouse, Eric opened the door letting Calleigh in, then Horatio and Ryan.

"It's crazy out there." Calleigh said.

"It is." Horatio answered.

"Rick's already here. He's with Holly. I don't know why she's here." Eric told them. His snarky tone definitely didn't go unnoticed. "No sign of Ron Saris anywhere, though. But his lawyer is here, so maybe he will show up later."

Horatio only nodded in response and turned his attention to Ryan. "And you're sure you're okay?"

Ryan chuckled, a little surprised and nodded. "I'm fine, Horatio. You're the one I should be worried about."

"No, no, I'm fine. I can handle it."

Calleigh smiled. "You can handle anything." She took Eric's hand. "We're going to go back outside. We'll come find you guys later."

"Yeah, good luck." Eric said, facing Horatio. He never once looked in Ryan's direction. And Horatio never bothered looking at Eric. Calleigh still smiled though, and guided Eric back out the doors they had just come in. Ryan put his hand on Horatio's shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "Really Horatio, are you okay? You can tell me, you know."

"I'm fine, Ryan. I'm going to go look for my attorney." His tone seemed a little stone, but he did give a small smile to Ryan, so that was a plus. Ryan just nodded and Horatio walked away in another direction. Ryan decided to go look for Rick and Dave.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to look too far for Dave.

In the hall of the building, he could see Dave stopped in front of a large painting. He just stood there staring at it. Or so, Ryan thought. When he got closer, he could see that Dave was actually looking at the frame of the painting. It was gold, shiny and reflective. "Hey Ryan."

Dave was wearing a navy suit. His hair was tied up in his usual ponytail. It was definitely a first seeing him in formal wear. He was always casual, wearing faded jeans or a shirt with print on it. It was nice seeing Dave dressed up. "Hi Dave. You look nice."

"You do too. How's Horatio?"

"I think he's nervous. But I think it'll be okay. Everything is pretty cut and dried, unless Julia, Natalia and Dan decide to recant their statements. But I don't see that happening."

"Me neither. Holly's here. I talked to her and Rick for a while." Dave told him. "She said she's here to support Rick."

Ryan crossed his arms. "She _is_ aware that her father's name is involved in this case? And the fact that we believe him to be involved and no one can find him because he took off?"

After Ryan spoke to Horatio, he had informed Ryan that she seemed to be in disbelief. When Horatio had told her that her father Red Cline had been mentioned in the case, she said it was impossible. He even brought up the possibility of someone trying to hurt her because of her association with him, and the fact that it could've been her father himself. But she didn't believe that. She said her dad wasn't like that, and he "couldn't hurt a fly".

"She is aware." Dave answered.

They had even asked Holly to bring in pictures of her dad. They'd never seen him before. But Holly told them she didn't have any pictures of him. She claimed he hated having his picture taken, and the few she did have were ruined in a house fire. Ryan wasn't so sure he believed that, but it wasn't as if they could issue a warrant for something like that.

Dave and Ryan walked together into the courtroom. He could see familiar faces from the lab. They were there to support Horatio and to see the outcome of everything. That made Ryan happy and he was sure that it did for Horatio too.

Horatio was standing on one side of the room, he was talking with a very tall man. This man was his attorney. Horatio didn't even want one, but he knew he had to have one. But he was very confident that he could prove his own case.

Ryan glanced around and saw Holly and Rick. Holly was seated, smiling and twirling a piece of her hair around her index finger. Rick was standing in front of her, he was saying something to her. Ryan couldn't hear what considering how far away he was but he really didn't. Although he did wonder why Holly was smiling as this situation didn't seem the most appropriate.

Dave tapped Ryan and pointed at the doorway. Ron Saris was walking through the door with Calleigh and Eric behind him. Eric was eyeing Ron, but Calleigh was barely paying attention to him. Her eyes were on everything and everybody except for Ron. Calleigh had taken Eric's hand again and guided him to a seat. They both sat down as Ron continued on. Surprisingly, he walked right up to Horatio.

Horatio didn't look surprised or mad or anything. His face remained neutral. Ryan and Dave didn't hear what they were saying, but Ron laughed, Horatio blinked and then Ron started cackling even louder. His lawyer approached him, and whispered something to him. Ron continued laughing even as his lawyer guided him to a seat. Dave had touched Ryan's arm. "We should sit, too." He said. And he was right. The judge was set to show up at any moment.


	6. Julia's Trial

Six:

Horatio never took his eyes off of Julia.

She sat on the stand, next to the judge. The whole room was quiet. Her long hair was down, per usual, and she wore a black dress. Ryan thought actually she looked really well. But they obviously weren't there for a fashion show. They were there because of something she had co-conspired to do.

The attorney, Derek Powell, was going through some papers he held in his hand. His face was very stern, and the court was quiet. They were all watching him. Just waiting for him to speak. And when he was ready, he adjusted his tie, cleared his throat and walked closer to the stand.

"Would you please state your name for the court, and how you know the Plaintiff?" He questioned.

"Julia Winston. Horatio Caine and I dated briefly and he and I have a son together."

"So you do, in fact, know the plaintiff?"

Julia nodded. "Yes."

Derek nodded along with her. "So then, I would like to direct you attention to the 17th of June; did you see Horatio Caine that day?"

"I did."

"And where did you see him?"

"In the car."

"In whose car, Ms. Winston?" Derek asked her.

"In Dan's car."

Derek shifted to another piece of paper. He started walking around closer toward the area Horatio sat. "And why did you see him that day?"

Julia was quiet. The room looked to her, waiting for her answer. But the whole time, she just stared at Horatio. And Horatio watched her, as well. And Ryan thought, Calleigh was right as she had stated before; she was eerily calm. The judge looked down from his seat to Julia. "Ms. Winston, you do have to answer the question."

Julia looked back to Derek. "Because Dan took him."

"Where did you and Dan take him?"

"To some abandoned house."

"And what were your intentions for Horatio?"

"To kill him."

Derek by then was now next to Horatio. He slapped his hand on the desk, as the people in the room began murmuring. Julia was very frank, and she answered all the questions. Ryan didn't expect her to be so open about it. He thought that she would have denied it, and tried pushing the blame all on Ron. And Ryan was sure Ron was involved but because of reasons, he wasn't being tried.

A man had stood up out of his chair. He looked very upset. "Objection; Julia Winston is on a lot of medications for depression, and bipolar disorder. She is unaware of what she's confessing to right now and she feels pressured."

Derek frowned and shook his head. "I object to that. Ms. Winston seems perfectly fine enough to dress herself, do her hair and makeup, and make it down to the courthouse. She was fine when she hired Dan Cooper and Natalia Boa Vista to do her dirty work. I think she's fine to stand trial today."

The judge had picked up his gavel and banged it four times. The two men stopped talking immediately, with Julia's lawyer sitting down again in his chair. And Derek, Horatio's attorney, just sighed. "I have no more questions for her."

The judge turned back to Julia and told her that she could go back to her seat. Ryan had turned and looked at Ron. He was staring hard at Julia with such a wide smile, it even creeped Ryan out. Julia's face remained stone. She stared at Horatio up until she sat down in her seat. Then, Julia's lawyer stood up and held his hand out. "I would like to question Horatio Caine."

The judge nodded, and told Horatio to take the stand. Suddenly, Ryan felt very nervous. He knew most of the details of what happened. But he definitely didn't want to hear it again. And he definitely didn't want Horatio to have to speak of it again. But it was what had to be done. And Horatio took the stand very stoically. His face never showed fear or anger, or anything like that. He sat down and looked at Julia's lawyer, simply waiting for him to question him.

"Would you state your name for the court?"

"Horatio Caine."

"And what is your occupation?"

"I am a supervisor and lieutenant at the Miami-Dade Crime Lab."

"You claim that on the 17th of June you attended a birthday party for a colleague, you left for a few minutes and while you were gone, Dan Cooper entered your office and kidnapped you at gunpoint." The guy said. Horatio nodded along. "And what were you doing when you left the party?"

"I was going to my office to check for missed calls."

"Who were you expecting a call from?"

"I don't see how that's important." Horatio answered. "But I was just checking. Miami is a very busy city and anything could have happened in the 20 minutes I was attending said party."

Horatio briefly broke eye contact with the lawyer as he had turned around and faced Julia. Leaving Horatio to look at Ryan for a moment. Ryan hoped that his own nervousness wasn't showing. The whole time he was concerned with Horatio and his nerves but now that Horatio was on the stand, Ryan was suddenly very afraid. The lawyer had whispered something to Julia, something that Ryan hadn't heard. Suddenly, the lawyer swiftly turned back to Horatio. "For the court, would you state how many children you have?"

Horatio seemed to frown, his first sign of any emotion. "I have 2."

"What are their names?"

"Kyle and Alana."

The lawyer crossed his arms. "If I'm not mistaken, Kyle's mother is none other than Julia Winston, correct?" Ryan got a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Hospital records show on your daughters birth certificate though, that Ryan Wolfe is listed as the father. Now how is that possible?"

Horatio's eyes darted to the left, where Derek had sat. On cue, Derek stood from his seat. "Objection; we're not here about a paternity test."

"I have a point." He replied.

The judge waved his hand. "Well make your point. Please answer the question, Mr. Caine."

The lawyer looked back to Julia and everyone in the room saw the smug smile he had on his face. Horatio's frown deepened and he had shifted in his seat. "What was the question again?"

"Ryan Wolfe is listed as the father of Alana- how is that possible?"

"Because he is her father."

"I thought you were Alana's father? Do you and Mr. Wolfe have some close relationship where you feel comfortable enough to call her your own daughter?" He asked them.

Ryan had felt Dave nudge him. He glanced at him, and saw that Dave was staring off at someone. Julia. She was staring right at Ryan. Her blank stare seemed to look right into Ryans core. It made him uncomfortable, to say the least. And as he listened, he wondered where the lawyer was going with it.

Horatio shook his head. "I am Alana's father."

"So you and-."

"Ryan and I are both Alana's father's, yes." He replied curtly.

"Which means that you and Ryan Wolfe are in a relationship, right? In the rules of your crime lab, it clearly states that office relationships are prohibited. And yet, you're together anyways, having children with a man who had a gambling addiction and was in debt, he beat up Assistant State Attorney, Josh Avery because of a crush on some girl. He has let information slip to a reporter, causing uproars in the city. My point being he is obviously very untrustworthy." He said. "And you're the lieutenant, who should know better than to get involved with someone like that. If there's trouble, just look in the middle and there's Ryan Wolfe. How are we supposed to believe anything you say when you continuously lie, and why should we believe what he says when he's proven himself not to be credible?"

Horatio's eyes were widened and he just seemed to be in complete disbelief. The lawyer waited a few seconds for him to say something, but he didn't. "You say that your daughter Alana, and your son Kyle's lives were in danger by Julia. Ms. Winston cares about her child and wouldn't do anything to harm him. Unlike you, who had him put in prison for kidnapping a woman. Ms. Winston is a loving, caring woman while you, lieutenant, don't even have control over the people in your crime lab. And you have no control of your children."

Derek stood up again. "Objection, your honor, he is attacking the character of the plaintiff when this case is about Julia Winston _admitting_ to kidnapping him. Dan and Natalia both admitted to it as well."

"They were under duress."

The judge banged his gavel twice to get their attentions. "It's stricken from the record."

The lawyer looked flustered. "Fine. Horatio Caine, you claim that Julia Winston had this whole thing orchestrated. Why should we believe that?"

"Because she admitted to it."

"But there is no evidence pointing to my client. All we have is hearsay from your boyfriend, your friends and Natalia Boa Vista and Dan Cooper, who don't want to be in trouble; they could have done this whole thing themselves. Right?"

"I guess that's possible." Horatio answered, his voice was softer, and Ryan could tell that Horatio was mad. Horatio was never one to raise his voice in a professional setting. But he could tell that he desperately wanted to. Julia's lawyer announced that he had no more questions. Ryan looked at Julia again, who was sitting with her arms crossed, smile on her face. She was talking to someone sitting next to her. Dave had put his arm around Ryan in a comforting way. Rick had turned to Holly and whispered something to her. She had frowned in response.

Horatio had stood and walked over to Derek who immediately started whisper yelling to him. Ryan sighed, knowing that this was going to be a very long process.

Horatio went straight upstairs to take a shower.

Alana and Kyle could both sense that something was wrong.

Ryan entered the house next, he shut the door and put on his best cheerful face to greet them. Both greeted back, and Alana asked what was wrong. But Ryan just shrugged and told her that nothing was wrong.

Kyle took that opportunity to tell him that he and Alana ordered take out, watched a couple of movies and that she had drawn a picture for Horatio. Ryan thanked Kyle for coming over and told him that he would let him know what happened as soon as he could. Now was obviously not the time. Kyle gave Ryan a small hug and went on his way, saying goodbye to the both of them and telling Ryan to say the same to Horatio.

Ryan left Alana downstairs with Domino as she continued to watch TV.

He went into the bedroom and waited patiently for Horatio to get out of the shower. The whole car ride was quiet. Neither of them really knew what to say. The first day of court hadn't gone too well. Ryan was surprised that Julia's lawyer would attack his character like that. And Horatio definitely seemed surprised.

And everyone in the lab knew about Horatio and Ryan. They knew that they had Alana and that Ryan was pregnant with twins. They even knew about office relationships being prohibited. But no one ever commented on it. Everyone knew Calleigh and Eric were in a relationship, as it was fairly obvious. But of course, because they said it in court, Ryan had a feeling something very bad would come from that.

When Horatio got out of the shower he didn't even look at Ryan. He just opened up a drawer and started looking for something, probably to wear.

"Horatio, are you alright? I know things got a little crazy."

"I'm fine."

"You're always fine. Come on, let's talk about this." Ryan said. "What do you think is going on? Ron just showed up and watched everything, and Julia just seems like she has something up her sleeve. What did Ron say to you?"

"He said 'good luck, lieutenant' and then he laughed. I don't know what's going on. I don't want to know, either. I just want Julia to go to prison, along with Natalia and Dan. I'd love if Ron could join them as well but because of Rick…" He trailed off, as he finally decided on a shirt. Ryan couldn't contain the small smile that formed when he noticed that Horatio was holding his shirt. Ryan liked wearing Horatio's shirts and Horatio liked to occasionally wear Ryan's. Since Horatio and Ryan started sleeping in separate bedrooms, neither of them had done so. But seeing Horatio pull it out so nonchalantly made Ryan happy. He decided not to comment on it, though.

"Why do you think Rick wouldn't agree to be questioned? He says he's done nothing wrong, and I believe him, it's just odd."

Horatio shrugged as he continued rummaging through the drawers, probably looking for pants to wear. "He's obviously hiding something."

"You don't think he's working with Holly in some secret alliance, do you?"

"It's crossed my mind." Horatio answered. He pulled out a pair of black shorts, that also belonged to Ryan. He turned to Ryan finally and stopped in his tracks. "What; why are you smiling?"

"Well, it's just those are my clothes." He told him. "You know since everything that happened, neither of us has worn each other's clothes. I don't know, I guess it just makes me happy to see you with mines."

Horatio looked at the items he clutched in his hands. Ryan was worried that he had just said something wrong. He thought that maybe Horatio would decide to put the clothes back and get something else instead. Instead though, Horatio sighed and shook his head. "What do you think is going to happen with us?"

"I don't know. I'd like for us to actually talk to each other so we can at least try to work it out. But it's hard to do when you ignore me. Whatever we're doing, though, we have to get it together before we have these babies." Ryan said.

Horatio nodded. He agreed with Ryan completely. "I was really hurt when I found out what happened with Rick. And I know you said it was 'just a kiss', but to me, there's no such thing. How can you kiss someone you don't have some sort of feelings or attraction for?"

"Well do you believe me when I say that we haven't done anything else? You get upset when I go to his office, which I understand but it's only work-related. It was one kiss, one time. And I absolutely don't want it to happen again." Ryan answered. "How did you find out about it anyways?"

Horatio seemed to hesitate. "I heard a rumor about a bathroom." Of course he had. But that was just a rumor. "From Walter, actually."

 _Walter?_ That was surprising. Ryan had considered him and Walter friends. They weren't the best of friends but they were close. Especially after that tornado had came through Miami. Ryan really liked and respected Walter. So he didn't even think he could get mad at Walter. But he was upset that he had told Horatio that. "What? When?"

Horatio shrugged. "At the party Calleigh threw for me. While you were upstairs with Rick."

"What Walter heard wasn't true."

"It wasn't?"

"No, no. Rick pulled me into the bathroom a work for whatever reason. I guess for privacy. And then he tried to kiss me. But I didn't let it happen and then Eric saw us and just assumed."

Horatio furrowed his eyebrows. "Really?"

Ryan slowly nodded his head. "Yeah. He told _everyone_. I thought it just blew over and people realized it was false but I guess not." He said. "But, at another time I did kiss Rick. We had just came back from Dan's apartment. And I was frustrated that we had no answers about what happened to you. And I guess I was just too caught up in everything and emotional. So when he kissed me, I just let it happen."

"Rick kissed you, and not the other way around?"

"Did you think I kissed him first?"

"I'm just trying to get all the answers. So I got what happened right. I just got the day and location wrong. It's just really devastating to learn that while I was being _tortured_ , you were being comforted by another man." Horatio said. "What are your feelings for Rick; do you want to date him? Just want to sleep with him or kiss him again? You're very jealous of his girlfriend so I think it's very safe to assume."

 _Jealous_. There was that word again that Ryan didn't like. The very word that made his skin crawl and made him cringe. He definitely didn't like to be called jealous. "I'm not sure what my problem with Holly is. I just hate how perfect she is, or how she portrays herself to be. I mean _come on_ , nobody's that perfect!"

Ryan saw Horatio's little smile. It was that Ryan had dubbed his 'sympathetic smile'. It was rare but it existed when Horatio didn't want to outright say that he was concerned or maybe even confused about something. Ryan halted movements for a second and then sighed. "See that's what I mean. I don't know why I get so riled up when I think about her. I'm not jealous that she's dating Rick. I think I might have been in the beginning to be completely honest. But now, something about her just rubs me the wrong way. But I'm really not jealous of her and Rick."

Horatio hummed in response.

"Do you believe me?"

"Of course."

Ryan sighed in relief. "Good. Now what?"

"Now," Horatio said, "We take it day by day; slow. Although I have a confession of my own for you."

 _Oh no._

"Alana said she found my blazer in a box in a basement today. I put it there the day of my party because I was planning on leaving." Horatio told him. "As soon as I got home, I packed two small boxes of things- my blazer, and a couple of outfits; the necessities. But when you got home, I couldn't leave. Alana would be sad. I would be sad. And you'd be alone while pregnant."

"I kind of expected you to leave. But I'm glad you didn't."

Horatio nodded. "Me too."


	7. Investigated

Seven:

Horatio said to take things day by day.

Slow.

But those words just weren't in Ryan vocabulary. Ryan was impulsive, and impatient. When he wanted things done, he went and got them done. When he wanted something, he went and got it. If there was a problem, he confronted it head on. The point being, that Ryan just did things his way. Sometimes it went awry. But other times, it went great

And that was why when Horatio had entered the bedroom, Ryan asked him if Alana was sleeping yet. Horatio had said yes, that he read her a few stories because she just wouldn't fall asleep. But now she was sleeping soundly in her bed.

It had been two days since their talk, and Ryan couldn't say that things were back to normal. But they were better. Horatio talked to Ryan more, even when no one was around. At the lab, he found something other than desk work for Ryan to do, letting Ryan go over evidence for Holly's case. He still hadn't slept in the same bed, though. When asked why, Horatio only said that he had become restless lately and didn't want to keep Ryan up all night as well. And Ryan could accept that. Because now before bed, Horatio would come into the room and would talk to him for a while before he went back to the guest room.

When Horatio sat down on the bed next to him, Ryan just kissed him. The first real kiss he'd given Horatio in a while. Horatio seemed surprised or caught off guard, but that didn't stop Ryan. He kissed him once, then twice, then by the third kiss he had wrapped his arms around the back of Horatio's neck to pull him closer.

He felt the vibration of Horatio chuckling and heard it as well.

Ryan pulled away to look at Horatio. He had a smile on his face, which definitely was a good thing. But his face turned to worry when Ryan had put his head on his shoulder, burying his face into it. "Ryan?"

"I missed you." His voice was muffled but Horatio heard him perfectly. "I hated living together but not talking to you."

Horatio used his hand and put it on Ryan's back. He rubbed it lightly and sighed. "It's alright. We're going to be okay, you know."

Ryan nodded. "Yeah. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Ryan kissed Horatio again. And Horatio kissed him back, and it was nice.

Then Horatio's face lit up. He looked really happy and excited about something. Seeing him happy definitely put a smile on Ryan's face as well. But he was wondering what had him that way. But he didn't have to wait long. Before Ryan said anything, Horatio shook his head. "I have an idea." He told him. "Tomorrow after work why don't you, me and Alana go out? We could have dinner, maybe see a movie if we can all agree on one. And maybe we can take Alana to the park afterwards."

Ryan definitely liked the sound of that. As he thought about it, he realized that they hadn't gone out and done things as a family in a while. Horatio would take Alana out and Ryan would take Alana out. But it was always separately. Although Alana never complained about it, he thought maybe she had missed that as well. "That sounds great, Horatio."

Horatio nodded and he kissed Ryan again. As he did, Ryan could hear a faint noise. It sounded like buzzing. Ryan pulled away, and Horatio reached into his own pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Horatio looked at the screen, frowned and then answered the phone.

"Lieutenant Caine!"

Ryan inwardly groaned, and laid back onto the bed as he could hear Holly's clear voice on the other side of the phone. Horatio had put the phone in between his ear and his shoulder, and then put his hand on Ryan's thigh, rubbing it lightly. "What's wrong, Holly?"

She started talking rather frantically, and Ryan couldn't catch what she was saying. But he could tell that something was wrong. Horatio's demeanor had changed. His hand had stilled on Ryan's thigh and soon, it was gone altogether. Horatio stood up from the bed. "I'll be right there." And then he hung up. "Sorry, I have to go; Holly's having some kind of problem."

Ryan shook his head. "No, it's fine." He answered. "My hormones are raging and I really want to have sex right now, but I guess I can wait."

Horatio pursed his lips together. "I'll try to be back soon."

"Alright."

And then Horatio kissed Ryan again, grabbed a jacket that was draped across a chair and then left the bedroom. Ryan thought about checking on Alana. It wasn't uncommon for Horatio or him to put their daughter to bed, only to have moments later for her to hop up and to start quietly coloring a picture or making crafts instead.

As he got up to check on her, he heard the sound of a car door closing. Ryan didn't think much of it, and continued on to Alana's room. She was lying down in bed, her back was facing Ryan but he could see her movements from breathing. She was sleeping, and he could hear her light snoring. Ryan closed her bedroom door and left the room. He decided to go downstairs to the kitchen for a snack. As Ryan walked past the front door, he could see a light shining inside. The lights were bright and large, like a car's headlights. Seconds later, Ryan could hear hard knocking on the door. He stopped walking for a moment, and stared at the door. He wondered if it was Horatio, maybe he had forgot something.

He looked through the peephole of the door and just stood there.

Ryan wondered what was going on.

Then more knocking.

Ryan slowly turned the knob and opened the door. He was pushed back immediately as Rick charged into the house. "Where is he?"

Ryan was taken aback. "What? Where is who?"

"Where is Horatio?"

"He just left. Holly called him and said she needed help." Ryan answered. "What's going on?"

Rick seemed confused. He frowned in response and shook his head. "Holly? She didn't tell me anything."

"Well why are you here?"

"I'm looking for Horatio."

" _Why_?" Ryan asked, a little pissed that Rick had just barged into his house, and was yelling while Alana was in bed sleeping.

Rick had just turned and left out of the house again. Ryan watched him from the door, as Rick opened his car door, turned the running vehicle off and then started back for the house. He moved out of the way to let him back inside. Ryan saw that Rick was holding papers in his left hand now. Ryan shut the door behind him as Rick walked toward their living room.

Ryan didn't have to ask again, as Rick had practically shoved the papers in Ryan's face. He had to move out the way just to avoid them actually hitting him. Ryan snatched the papers out of his hands, and immediately looked horrified. "What is this?"

"Because of Horatio's little confession on stand to your guys' relationship, we're _all_ being investigated." Rick announced, the anger apparent in his voice. "Office relationships are prohibited for a number of reasons; it's distracting, it causes discomfort with the others, or there's favoritism. And now we're all in trouble. You for making babies with the lieutenant, and me for knowing about it and not reporting it because _I'm in_ Internal Affairs."

"Well it's not like Horatio could lie on the stand. He would get in a lot of trouble. And I don't see why this is a big deal now- everyone knew."

"It's a big deal because people are making it a big deal. It wasn't a problem until it was announced in court. Now suddenly the public wants cases relooked at, and everything that the lab has done to be questioned because Horatio could have used 'favoritism' with you. All because of a romance. None of us cared until it could get us all fired."

Well Ryan was slightly panicking now. "What's going to happen?"

"I assume they're going to either tell you to break up, or one of you will be transferred elsewhere or you'll just be fired." Rick answered. "You said something about Holly; what's wrong with her?"

"She called for Horatio. I couldn't understand what she said, but I know he went to meet her somewhere. Do you have any idea what happened?"

Rick shook his head. "No. She told me she was going to go to a friends place a few hours ago, but I haven't heard anything other than that."

"You don't seem too concerned."

"Well you said Horatio was handling it." Rick shrugged. "Why should I be worried?"

Rick had a point there. If there was a problem, Horatio could always fix it. And besides, Holly didn't sound too freaked out on the phone. Her voice was fast-paced and rushed but as many times as Ryan had spoken to her, he thought that was just how she was. And he noticed anyways, that she got a little hyperactive while chatting with Horatio. But Ryan had a feeling that if he asked anything about her, Rick would just get upset at him. He gestured toward his couch. "Well, do you want to sit down? I'll call Horatio and see if he can tell me anything."

Rick sat down but shook his head. "Don't call him. He just left, Wolfe. I'm sure he doesn't know anything yet." He had his own phone out and pressed it to his ear. "I'll just call Holly."

Ryan nodded. He decided to go back upstairs anyways. To grab his own phone that he had left and to check on Alana. He figured she would've came downstairs to see what was going on if she had been woken up. But it didn't hurt to check.

As he went upstairs, he saw Rick take the phone from his ear, push a button then put it back to his ear. He thought that maybe Holly hadn't answered. It was strange to Ryan that Holly's first call was to Horatio. It seemed natural for her to call her boyfriend first, that being Rick. But that didn't happen. Rick seemed to be in the dark, and what was stranger, he didn't seem the least bit concerned. Horatio would handle the situation of course, as he always did. But he thought that Rick would be at least a little concerned. Or maybe he just wasn't showing it.

And why had Rick showed up anyways to their house? He was pissed off, and at Horatio for confessing to his and Ryan's relationship. And now because of that, there would be yet again another investigation in the lab. Ryan could understand why Rick would be upset- he could get in a ton of trouble for concealing that. They all could. But Ryan didn't understand what possessed Rick to drive to their home. What was he going to do if Horatio had been home; yell at him? Try to fight him?

Ryan had slowly reclosed Alana's door. She was still sleeping quietly except for her soft snores. He had started walking back to his room when he thought he heard the stairs creak. Ryan stopped moving and listened for a moment but there wasn't another sound. Ryan frowned. "Rick?" He called out, as loud as he could without risking waking Alana up.

"Yeah?"

His voice sounded close. Ryan walked back to the stairs and saw Rick just standing there. Ryan knew he probably looked very confused. Why was Rick sneaking up the stairs?

Rick smiled and pointed to the wall. "Oh, I was looking at these pictures." He chuckled. "You know I've never actually met a family that put portraits on the wall by their stairs. I've only seen them in the movies."

Ryan breathed out and nodded. They did have pictures on their wall. So that made sense that Rick had stopped coming up the stairs and was looking at them. But that didn't explain why he was coming upstairs anyways.

"Did you need something?" Ryan asked. "I was coming back down."

"Yeah, where is your bathroom? I didn't see one downstairs."

"Well there is one. But you can use the one up here. Just down the hall."

Rick nodded and continued up the stairs. He walked down the hall and found the bathroom. Ryan watched him go in and shut the door. Ryan went into his room and grabbed his phone, making sure to shut the door behind him. He contemplated going back downstairs but for some reason he felt like he should wait for Rick to come out.

It wasn't that Ryan didn't trust Rick. He just had a weird feeling about everything. It just didn't seem right. He decided to call Horatio anyways. Ryan waited, the phone rang three times before he answered. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you driving still?" Ryan questioned. It wouldn't have been good for Horatio to answer the phone. He only had one arm to drive. But he didn't really think Horatio would have answered if that was the case. "No, I'm waiting for Holly now. She told me she was with her friends and they decided to go out drinking but they left her there."

"Wait, wait. So she called you to be her designated driver?"

"I guess so. I'll drop her off at Rick's house and I'll be right home."

"Um," Ryan paused, unsure if he should mention Rick being at their house at that very moment. "Okay sounds good. I'll just be here waiting for you."

Horatio said bye to Ryan and they hung up. He continued to wait for Rick to come out, which wasn't too much longer. As he came out of the bathroom he stopped next to the guest room. The door was open and he peered inside. "Is this your bedroom?"

"No, it's our guestroom. You should probably-."

He continued on and stopped next to the door Ryan had just closed. "Is this your bedroom?"

"Yeah, but I think you-."

Rick turned the knob and pushed the door open and for a moment, Ryan's mind went blank. Rick obviously had no boundaries for others people's things. Ryan even let out a short laugh in disbelief that he had done that. And then Rick just walked into the room. "Rick, what the hell is your problem?"

Ryan had came into the room and saw Rick was looking at their dresser. Horatio had a collection of colognes, and Ryan had a collection of hair products. Rick picked up one of the cologne bottles and smelled it. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're in my bedroom. The door was shut, which usually signifies people keeping out. And yet you're in here." Ryan answered. "You should leave. Horatio's on his way back soon and, well, I don't think you should be here when he does."

Rick frowned as he put the bottle back. "But that was my whole point of coming here tonight- to talk to him. Why would I leave now when he's on his way? Unless you didn't tell him that I'm here."

"It's just not a good time tonight. I think you should be home waiting for your girlfriend to see if she's safe and sound."

Rick smiled, and then he laughed. " _Girlfriend_ , that's funny. Holly is not my girlfriend."

"What? But she's staying with you in your house."

"She doesn't feel safe enough to go home."

"You said you were dating!"

Rick laughed again. "Well, yeah, we had a few dates. But there's nothing there. She's just not my type, I guess."

Ryan was surprised to hear that. He was amazed this whole time that he didn't know that. Then again, he had been avoiding talking to Rick about personal matters. "But she's so perfect."

Rick shrugged and put his hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Yeah she is, isn't she? But a little too perfect. No one's that perfect."

Ryan wanted to just yell out that he completely agreed but he didn't think that would go over too well. Rick released Ryan's shoulder and left the room. Ryan followed behind him, shutting the door again. Rick walked down the stairs, and sat down on the couch. Ryan came down after him, he sat down on the chair in the living room. He noticed Rick eyeing him but he didn't say anything so Ryan figured it wasn't that important. Ryan sat there, thinking.

He wondered how long Horatio would be. He wondered how he'd react if he came home and saw Rick in the house. He was sure he'd be surprised. He even thought that maybe Horatio would be a little upset with him. Especially since they just had a talk about trust and Rick.

Ryan groaned, out loud and put his hand on his head. "I should have told him you were here."

Rick was busy looking around the area but he still answered. "He might speed home faster if you did." Rick picked up a picture of Alana and looked at it. "Wow, Alana has none of your features."

"She definitely favors Horatio. She has my lips, I think."

Rick looked at the picture then at Ryan, seemingly eyeing his lips. Then Rick nodded as he sat the photo down. "So why didn't you tell Horatio I was here?"

Ryan shrugged. "I'm not sure. If I did, he'd ask why you were here." He answered. "And then I'd have to tell him why you're here. I don't wanna be the one to tell him we're being investigated."

Rick nodded, like he understood.

After a while, they both heard the sound of a lock clicking, Rick looked at Ryan. Ryan was sure he looked slightly, if not full-blown panicked. The whole time, he had been thinking about what to say to Horatio and feeling bad that he hadn't said something when he called him. Rick stood up and rushed toward the door, which only made Ryan feel even more panicked. Being 5 months pregnant with twins, he was bigger. And since he was bigger, he couldn't quite get off of the couch as fast as he used to. But he could hear the surprise in Horatio's voice.

"Rick?"

"Yeah, I need to talk to you."

"Why are you," he started. " _When_ did… I just dropped Holly off at your place."

Ryan had finally made his way to the men. Rick looked mad. "I _just_ got here, maybe 3 minutes ago. Are you going to keep questioning me or can I tell you what I came for?"

Horatio had glanced to Ryan. He had frowned but he nodded his head. "Yeah, we can go talk in the kitchen. Do you need Ryan with us?"

Rick looked back to Ryan and shook his head. "Nope, just you."

Horatio nodded and led Rick into the kitchen.

Ryan had felt a little bit of relief. Rick had definitely been there longer than 3 minutes. Meaning he'd just told a little fib to Horatio. But at least that way Horatio wouldn't have known that Ryan withheld information from him. And it wouldn't have been awkward to have them all sitting down in the same place; Ryan and the man he cheated with and the very angry boyfriend together just didn't seem good.

But the man he cheated with and his boyfriend together didn't sound too great either, so Ryan felt it was best to stay close to the kitchen. Just in case, as a precaution.

Horatio looked pissed by the time Rick was gone. Ryan wasn't able to hear what they were saying, since they were speaking in very hushed tones. But Rick left, looking mad and Horatio looked mad too. When Ryan asked him if he were okay, Horatio's mood seemed to change. He smiled and took Ryan's hand.

"What are you-?"

"Going upstairs." Was Horatio's short response.

He led them up the stairs, stopping momentarily at the closed door. But he didn't question it and just pushed the door open. Ryan chuckled at the fast-paced actions by Horatio. Horatio momentarily let go of his hand, only to shut the door behind him. Then he kissed Ryan.

"Wait, we're not going to talk about Holly?" Ryan pulled away.

"We can talk tomorrow." Horatio kissed him again. Ryan chuckled because he didn't see Horatio like this often. And he had thought that Horatio would have no longer been in the mood to do anything after leaving out. Ryan felt Horatio's hand go up his shirt, and then Ryan stopped moving.

Horatio halted his movement and looked at Ryan with concern and worry.

Despite his rather large stomach, Ryan suddenly felt small looking at Horatio. He knew before Horatio even said it that he'd ask Ryan what was wrong. Ryan sighed. "Rick…"

Horatio took a small step back and his head tilted slightly to the right. "You're going to have to stop saying his name every time I kiss you." He chuckled softly, and Ryan did too but he knew that Horatio was probably worried about what Ryan would say next.

He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. It's just, Rick lied to you. And I didn't say anything either so I guess, technically I lied too." He said. Horatio's eyebrows furrowed together but he was listening to Ryan. "He said he had just came over when you came home. But actually Rick came over as soon as you left."

Horatio was very quiet. And then Ryan felt like he should wait for him to say something. But he also thought that if he didn't say something now, then Horatio might have thought up a scenario in his head. "He told me about the lab being investigated because of our relationship. And then we talked about Alana a little bit. But that's it. The rest of the time we just kind of sat there, not saying anything."

"You didn't tell me he was here." Horatio answered. "Was he here when you called?"

"He was. I panicked and I decided not to tell you. But then when I was waiting for you to get home, I panicked more about not telling you. I'm sorry." Ryan said.

Horatio just nodded.


	8. Plans

Eight

Horatio looked pissed.

Of course that was to be expected.

Dave, Ryan, and Calleigh watched from a distance as Horatio handed over his badge and his gun. Dave had more a face of disbelief and Calleigh seemed to be sad. Ryan was sure he too, looked sad. He felt terrible. He felt like everything was somehow his fault, even though he knew it wasn't.

Horatio had to admit to their relationship while in court. He was on the stand and if he lied, he could get in a lot of trouble. Of course now, seeing that telling the truth caused trouble too made Ryan think that maybe lying would've been a better choice. But he wouldn't fault Horatio for that as he had always done what he knew was right.

And Julia's lawyer seemed to be ruthless. He criticized Ryan's character and his and Horatio's duties as parents. All just to demean Ryan and his word to get Julia off the hook for the crimes that she admitted to doing. Ryan knew that lawyers would do and say anything that they had to for their clients. But he didn't expect for him to attack the things Ryan had done in the past for it. Ryan didn't even expect himself to be brought up that way.

But now here they were. Horatio had been talking to a man for an hour. Rick had talked to the same man just before him. Also for about an hour. The only difference between them was the fact that Ryan didn't see Rick giving up his badge and gun. Only Horatio had.

Horatio started shaking his head when two officers came over to him.

"Escorting him out seems a little excessive." Dave whispered, to anyone that was listening. "He's not a criminal."

Calleigh nodded. "You're right, it's not fair. I don't think Rick is in trouble. I saw him leave without escorts. Did you, Ryan?"

He shook his head. "I didn't see him leave. They haven't talked to me yet, so I'm guessing I'll be next."

After Horatio left the building, the officers disappeared and the man that both Rick and Horatio had spoken to got into the elevator. While this happened, Calleigh started explaining to Ryan. Apparently after Ryan stopped watching what was going on with Rick because Valera had called him to look at something, Calleigh saw Rick leaving. But no police escorts, no giving up his badge or gun or anything else official. This to Ryan, was strange. He could see why Horatio would be in trouble. He could see why Horatio had to leave. But he didn't see why Rick didn't seem to be in any kind of trouble. Sure, he left but did he have to?

It wasn't like he wanted Rick to get in trouble, too. Really, Rick didn't have anything to do with it. It was all about Horatio and Ryan's relationship. But Rick was IAB, and he did know about it. Everyone did. So now everyone in the lab would be talked to and questioned. But would they get in trouble like Horatio? Or would they just apparently get a stern talking to, like Rick?

Calleigh gave Ryan a soft pat on the back before leaving him alone with Dave.

Ryan sighed. "So, did you ever fix your computers?"

"Yeah, I did. Someone sent us a little virus but I got it handled." Dave answered.

"Someone sent them; why?"

"It was trying to hack our systems for information. Fortunately, they weren't able to; whoever it was." Dave frowned. "Wait, I'm surprised you didn't know. Eric and Walter have been working on this since it happened."

Well Ryan hadn't spoken to Eric in a while. And they hadn't been working on anything together so it wasn't like they really needed to speak. And he hadn't really spoken to Walter since Horatio had told him that Walter had let the rumor slip to him. Although Ryan's not speaking to Walter wasn't intentional. He was upset that Walter told Horatio that rumor. But he had thought about it and well, if Ryan had heard about something like that with Calleigh and Eric or someone else he considered a friend, he'd probably say something too. Although he would have made sure of it first. But Ryan also wasn't completely sure if it was intentional for Walter to say anything to Horatio.

Walter was a nice guy but tough and to the point when needed. But Ryan couldn't really see him just telling Horatio something like that. It could have just slipped out.

The whole day Ryan kept looking over his shoulders, waiting to be spoken to. But that didn't happen. Ryan felt it was weird. And given everything that had happened, he decided to call Horatio to see if he knew what was going on. When Horatio answered the phone, he was upset. At least he sounded upset. And Ryan could understand why. Ryan asked him if he was okay, to which of course, all he got back was "I'm fine".

"It's just weird, they haven't spoken to me yet and it's almost the end of my shift." Ryan told him. "And Calleigh told me that Rick didn't give up his badge or gun or anything. And he just left without escorts. That can't be normal right? Is something else going on?"

"Maybe they are waiting until tomorrow to speak with you. But as far as anything with Rick goes, I have no idea. Maybe he managed to talk his way out of it." Horatio answered.

And that made sense to Ryan. "Yeah, maybe. Well did you still want to go out tonight?"

Horatio had suggested that he, Ryan and Alana go out for a day of fun tonight. But Alana had been feeling sick and couldn't go. So, he suggested just him and Ryan going out and just talking. Away from the house, away from people they know. And Ryan thought it was a good idea. But now since Horatio had officially been relieved of duty, he didn't think Horatio would be in the mood to tonight.

"No, no. Tonight is very important. I still want to."

"Good, me too. So, I'll just see you at home then."

Horatio said bye and then he hung up the phone. Ryan took his phone away from his ear and saw he had a missed notification. He looked at it and just stared at the text message.

 _Can we talk tonight?_

His first thought was of course, no. Ryan had plans with Horatio tonight. And he most certainly didn't intend on breaking these plans to go see Rick. But Ryan would have been lying if he said he didn't want to see Rick. He was dying to know what happened and why he was able to just go freely. Was Rick in any kind of trouble? Or did he lie and say he knew nothing about it? Ryan sighed, and looked up and smiled when he saw a coworker enter the room.

Ryan went back to looking at his phone and he frowned.

 _I have plans with Horatio tonight. Maybe tomorrow?_

He didn't have to wait long for Rick's response, it came immediately.

 _Can't tomorrow. Meet me at 6._

And to that, Ryan was taken aback. It was very brash of Rick to just tell him to come meet him. _Who does he think he is_ , Ryan thought. Ryan looked at his phones time. It was 5:32pm. Meaning Ryan was now off the clock and he could leave and go home and see Horatio and check on Alana.

Ryan grabbed his jacket from the rack and put it on. He emptied everything he needed from his locker and then spoke to Calleigh as she entered the room. "Plans tonight?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah with Horatio. You?"

"Movie night with Eric. See you tomorrow, Ryan." Calleigh grabbed something out of her locker and waved to Ryan. He left behind her, but she had got on the elevator before him. When he finally got on and was able to leave, he got into his car and tossed his phone onto the seat. Then, his phone lit up and chimed with a new alert.

Ryan grabbed the phone and looked at it. Another text from Rick.

 _My house. Holly's gone._

Ryan frowned again. Rick was being very persistent. Ryan just shook his head and put his phone in his pocket before starting up the car. Ryan started to pull out of the parking lot but then stopped. Ryan groaned out loud and pulled his phone back out of his pocket and dialed a number.

"Hey what's up?"

"Horatio, I'm going to be a little late." Ryan said. "I have something to take care of and then I'll be right home. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Is everything okay?"

"Oh I'm fine. I just wanted to check on something. But I'll tell you everything as soon as I get home."

Horatio said okay, his voice sounding a little skeptical. Ryan had started to tell Horatio that he could just come straight home. But Horatio had already hung up. Ryan hesitated leaving for a moment. _Maybe I should just go home_ , Ryan thought. _But I do really wanna know what's going on_. Ryan sighed again and started to drive.

Ryan knocked on the door. He was feeling pretty anxious, and hoped he made the right choice.

When Horatio opened the door, he frowned very deeply.

"Why did you knock; did you forget your key?"

Ryan shook his head and held out a bag for Horatio. "Nope, I just decided if we're going out tonight we have to do this right. I was gonna bring you flowers, but I figured alcohol was more effective."

Horatio smiled and chuckled as he took the bag out of Ryan's hand. "Well that's incredibly nice of you. But what about your other plans?"

Ryan shrugged. "I just chose you instead. Now go get ready, we have a date to go on."

Horatio listened to Ryan and turned to go back inside the house. Ryan heard him chuckle as he walked up the stairs. As he did, Alana came running down. She went past Horatio, just barely said hi to Ryan and went right out the back door.

Ryan thought that was a little strange. Alana was supposed to be sick in bed. He followed behind his daughter and saw her go to a spot directly in the middle of their backyard. She plopped down on the ground, and Ryan saw she had a blanket in her hands. As Ryan got closer, he saw their dog, Domino, lying down, breathing really hard and his eyes closed. Alana had draped the blanket over Domino and began to pet him.

"Alana, what's wrong?"

"Domino's sick."

Ryan paused momentarily before sitting in the grass, debating if he should ruin his pants or not. He slowly got down, to try to decrease whatever stains that would get on his pants. "What happened?"

"He ate all of my tea party food." She answered, as she scratched his ear.

"Alana, we told you about food in your bedroom."

"But I was hungry!" She whined.

Ryan noticed that Domino seemed to be shaking and he frowned as he leaned in closer to him. Ryan put his hand on his side and rubbed it gently. Domino was definitely shaking. Ryan stood up and turned when he heard the backdoor open again and saw Horatio holding something in his hand. He was reading the box with a frown on his face. "Alana, why did you have baker's chocolate in your room?"

"I was hungry."

"You don't eat bakers chocolate. You _bake_ with it."

Ryan started shaking his head. "Wait, wait, wait. Alana, you let Domino _eat_ that?" He asked. His voice raised, and Alana's eyes widened, not used to Ryan raising his voice at her. Ever. "We've told you dogs cannot eat chocolate. It's very bad for them."

Horatio, finally noticing Domino laying down made a noise sounding like a strangled groan. "We'll have to take him to the vet."

Ryan nodded and lifted Domino off the ground as gently as possible, it being a little hard with his pregnant stomach in the way. Horatio opened the gate of the backyard, and they both walked toward the car. Horatio unlocked and opened the car's backseat doors. Ryan sat Domino down in the car, while Horatio handed him the car keys. "You go take care of Domino, I'll stay with Alana."

"Okay. And I'm sorry about our date." Ryan told him.

Horatio's face was void of any emotion. Ryan had noticed that he had been more straight-faced than usual. He had been that way before, but it seemed to be happening a lot more now. "It's okay. I'll call Kyle and tell him he doesn't need to come over. Let me know what happens."

Ryan said okay and got into the car.


	9. Natalia's Trial

Nine:

Ryan was surprised that he was at the lab. He was surprised that no one had spoken to him yet about his and Horatio's relationship.

Calleigh said she had been spoken to and she didn't reveal too much information. Much to Ryans appreciation. Nothing happened to her. Eric had been spoken to as well. As far as Ryan knew, he didn't say much either. And nothing happened to him. Walter hadn't been spoken to, and neither had Valera. So maybe they were only talking to those closest to Ryan and Horatio and not everyone in the lab, as they had previously thought.

Or Walter and Valera would be talked to, around the same time Ryan would be.

Whenever that would happen.

Rick had strutted through the doors of the lab as if nothing had happened a few days earlier. As if Horatio hadn't been sent home in front of everyone. Nothing did happen to Rick, it seemed. He continued on being head of the IAB department. Everyone continued to ignore Rick. Rick continued to harass people over the smallest matters.

Ryan was sitting next to Dave in the break room when they both saw Rick walk pass the room. Dave immediately looked to Ryan. He had told him that he hadn't spoken to Rick since a few days before the first court hearing. Not that Dave hadn't tried communicating with Rick. It was just that Rick wasn't answering him. Ryan told Dave that Rick hadn't spoken to him in a few days. Not since those text messages where he tried to get Ryan to come over.

They both watched the doorway again when they heard the sounds of footsteps approaching. Rick walked by the room again, this time with someone from their department behind him. Ryan just shook his head. He had no idea what was going on.

Ryan felt terrible that Horatio wasn't working. He seemed so lost, to Ryan. And he was sure that seeing Ryan go into work and coming home without the news of being investigated as well was weird to him. It was weird to Ryan. Why was Horatio being punished and not Ryan? Was it because Horatio was the supervisor?

"Do you think we should try to talk to him?" Dave asked. "Something just feels off about this whole thing. It's completely unfair to Horatio. Not that you should be punished too, but Rick is head of IAB and he knew about you and Horatio, too. How is he not in trouble?"

Ryan sighed. "I don't know. Rick's been acting strange the last few times I talked to him. I think it's something with Holly."

Ryan saw Dave grin at the mention of Holly's name. "Just because Rick and Holly-."

"They're not dating and I'm not jealous."

"Well not anymore, anyways." Dave chuckled. Ryan rolled his eyes as he stood up. "Something is going on with Rick. I'll find out what it is eventually. I'm going to go talk to Walter. See you later."

Ryan walked down the halls until he found him. When he did, he saw Walter in the break room. Which made sense, seeing as he was supposed to be on break. Ryan had walked in on him mid-bite of a sandwich. Walter slowed down his chewing and when he was finished he put his hand over his mouth."Need something?"

"Actually, I do. It's about Holly."

"Can it wait until I'm off break?"

"You know about gases and poisons, right?" Ryan questioned anyways. "I'm wondering if someone exposed Holly to anything at the party. Her toxicology reports came back clean for drugs and alcohol. And she was tested for rohypnol and chloroform, that also came back clean. But something had to be clouding her brain for her to not remember anything that happened."

Walter nodded. "You think someone drugged her with something that's undetectable? I guess that's a possibility. But then the question would be how someone drugged her, and still the other question remains- how did someone get upstairs without anyone seeing them? And also how did she get outside?"

"That I don't know. But I have a feeling if we know what was given to Holly then we'll know more about everything else."

"I'll look into it for you." Then Walter frowned. "Hey, Ryan have you been avoiding me?"

And to that, Ryan just shook his head. Then he turned on his heels and left the room, leaving Walter alone with his sandwich.

"Can we take Domino to the park?" Alana asked.

Ryan glanced at his daughter sitting in the backseat. Horatio was driving, Ryan sat in the passenger seat. Domino lay down in the backseat, next to Alana. She had her hand resting on his head, not petting him.

"I think Domino needs to rest at home." Horatio answered.

"No he needs fresh air!" Alana protested.

Ryan opened his mouth to speak but Horatio had beat him to it. "And we're going to have to have another talk with you about not having food in your room and not letting dogs eat chocolate." His voice was very stern which meant that he was completely serious.

Alana huffed in anger and crossed her arms across her chest.

Ryan just shook his head and looked forward again. Horatio was right he thought. Domino was finally being released from the Vets office, and what he really needed some rest at home. But on the other hand, he was sure Domino hated being inside all the time. So, Alana was also right. But Ryan decided against saying anything.

When they got home, they found Kyle already there. His car was parked in the driveway.

They had to go back down to the courthouse today, and Kyle agreed to watch Alana again. Ryan wondered how Kyle was taking the whole thing. He even wondered if Kyle maybe wanted to go down to the courthouse. But he also thought that maybe he wouldn't want to see his own mother on trial. Ryan had asked Horatio a number of times to talk to Kyle about it. And he had assured him that he had.

Alana perked up when she saw Kyle's car there. She always got excited when Kyle came over.

She was the first inside the house after Horatio had unlocked the door.

When Ryan and Horatio, and Domino, came in, they found Kyle in his usual spot. Sitting on the floor in front of the TV. He waved to the men without actually taking his eyes off of the screen. He even hugged Alana without looking away. Then he turned her around and said "go get your colouring books", still not looking at her. Alana didn't seem to mind though.

Horatio on the other hand, couldn't help but to roll his eyes. He always thought it was a little rude.

But before he could comment on it, Ryan had put his hand on Horatio's shoulder. "Come on, we have to get ready." And that seemed to calm Horatio down. He nodded and the two walked upstairs together.

Ryan had laid Horatio's clothes out on the bed for him to avoid last times events. Since last time, Horatio spent an hour running around looking for his lucky blazer and almost made them late. Ryan decided he would just have it out for him instead. To which, Horatio seemed to appreciate. He wasted no time in getting dressed, along with Ryan. He also chuckled when he heard Ryan curse under his breath. "Damn it," Horatio turned to look at Ryan messing with his button. "I'm going to need a bigger suit soon."

Horatio just laughed again, and pat Ryan on the shoulder lightly. "We'll be sure to get it tailored. So next time we won't run into this problem again."

And then Ryan stopped moving. "Next time? Oh no, there's not going to be a next time."

"That's what you said when you were pregnant with Alana."

"The difference is I mean it this time." He answered. "Come on, we're about to have 3 kids. You're gonna have four. What; do you want a whole basketball team or something?"

Horatio chuckled as he shook his head. He started helping Ryan with his suits button, even swatting his hand away. "No, not a basketball team. I've just always wanted a big family."

"Well how many kids were you thinking?"

"Well we already have Kyle and Alana. And then two more on the way." He answered as he finished buttoning up Ryan's suit. "So, I was thinking two more?"

Ryans face twisted up and he glared at Horatio. "Then how about next time, I try to impregnate you instead? Agree to that and then we'll talk about two more kids." He then mumbled under his breath, implying that Horatio had lost his mind.

"Please state your name and occupation for the court."

"My name is Ryan Wolfe and I am a Level 3 CSI." Ryan answered. He glanced out to the sea of eyes watching him. He saw Horatio sitting next to Derek Powell again, of course. He could see Dave sitting next to Valera. Calleigh and Eric were seated together, behind Horatio and Derek. To the right of the room, he could see Julia. Behind her though, was Dan Cooper and Natalia Boa Vista.

Initially, Ryan was surprised that the trial would be joint. But then he figured, it was probably for the best. No one wanted to go through the same thing again 2 more times.

Then seated in the very back, was Rick Stetler.

He was sitting next to people Ryan hadn't met before. He was sure they were people that had just wanted to witness the trial unfold. He didn't think Rick actually knew them. But he was pleasantly surprised to not see Holly or Ron Saris in the room as well.

The lawyer in front of him was hired to defend Julia, Natalia and Dan.

"Ryan Wolfe, you helped solve this case- gathering evidence, tracking down where Horatio Caine was once allegedly held, and interviewing suspects. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"All in the name of finding Horatio?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell us how you managed to pinpoint each suspect? How did you know it was them?"

Ryan nodded. "Well, the evidence pointed to them. We got Dan when clues were being left around us. There was a note left when Horatio was first taken. Then there was one left at the mall, he had been following us around." Ryan said. "There was a phone number that I had to call. He wanted me to say goodbye to Horatio. But I guess I pissed him off enough to stall him and trace the call to an abandoned house. Then we managed to get a license plate number and traced it back to Dan Coopers car. We confronted him and then he admitted to being hired to kidnap Horatio."

The lawyer nodded his head as some people started to mumble. "You mean, when he admitted to being hired when he was under duress? While you beat him?"

Ryan instantly shook his head. "I never touched him!"

"Then who did, Ryan?" He asked. "I think we all can't help but noticed that you repeatedly said 'we' during your testimony. Well, who is 'we'; who else helped you? If you didn't beat Dan into a confession, then who did?"

Ryan chanced a look to Horatio. Horatio in return looked to Derek. Derek stood up and shook his head. "No, objection! He's trying to get Ryan Wolfe to change his answer to make him look not credible as a witness or as a CSI."

"I don't need him to recant to do that. I think he does a pretty great job of proving his incompetence himself." The lawyer answered. Ryan felt like slinking away when he saw Natalia and Dan laughing. He looked at Rick, sitting alone. Rick had a stern look on his face. He looked pretty angry, if Ryan had to guess.

"Overruled." The judge answered. "Mr. Wolfe please answer the question."

Ryan nodded again. "'We' refers to Rick and Dave. They both helped out a lot. I couldn't do anything like this on my own."

"Of course not." The lawyer agreed. "So why don't you tell us all how you managed to catch Natalia?"

"Well, Rick's niece was babysitting my daughter-."

"You mean your and Horatio's daughter, correct?"

Ryan stalled. But he still agreed. "Uh, yes, that's correct. She was babysitting for me and she told me that a woman matching Natalia's description came over and tried to take Alana. But before that, I kind of had a feeling that she knew more than she was letting on." Ryan answered. "She brought Dan in for questioning. She knew more about the case than I did. Dan was visibly afraid of her, and during her interrogating him, I noticed she had bruised knuckles when Dan had obviously been beaten up before being brought in. Honestly out of all the criminals we've busted, Natalia was probably the dumbest and easiest to catch. And it didn't help when she snapped and then tried to stab me."

"And how did you connect it to Julia?"

"Natalia confessed to being paid by Julia. And then when she was wanted for questioning, she fled. Someone who was innocent wouldn't flee. Not unless they had something to hide. And then Ron Saris told our investigators that Julia had approached him with this plan to try to get him in on it as well."

"Ron Saris- her crazy, violent, abusive ex? You didn't think he was lying at all?"

"Well, I think he is. I think Ron is behind this whole thing. And then he preyed on these people- Julia is not all there. Not when she's off her medicine. Natalia is obviously resentful towards everyone in the lab because of her ex husband, but more so toward Horatio because she feels he didn't help enough. He preyed on her anger. And he preyed on Dans anger as well, because he was still pissed at being caught stealing Speedles credit cards. It's a shame he can't be the one tried here today because he was granted immunity. But these 3 are still involved. They are not the victims- Horatio was."

And then the lawyer stopped talking. He shook his head as he approached Julia. Instead of saying anything, he just sat down next to her. Derek Powell had a shit-eating grin on his face. He stood up. "Your honor, I would like Natalia Boa Vista to approach the bench."

Ryan stood up and left the seat next to the judge.

He went and sat down next to Calleigh.

Natalia stood up and sat down where Ryan had just been.

"Natalia Boa Vista, it's from my understanding that you had a pretty good relationship with everyone in the lab. You dated both Ryan Wolfe and Eric Delko. Horatio Caine was a mentor toward you. He helped you. As did everyone else in the lab." He said. "So then, why are you so angry. Why did you help with this crazy scheme?"

Natalia shook her head. "My lawyer advised me not to say anything about that. It's all alleged anyway."

Derek nodded. "Okay then. So why did you _allegedly_ help with this plan?"

Natalia smirked and a small laugh escaped her lips. "You're right, everyone helped me. And I helped them too. Except for the time they didn't help me." She said. "My abusive ex husband was hired to work in the same lab as me. The same. They all knew what I went through and yet he was still hired. It was hurtful. It was betrayal to the highest level."

"You didn't seem all that broken up about it when you started sleeping with the same abusive ex again." Derek told her. "So why was that? Did you feel-?"

"I still loved him. And its Horatio's fault he's dead now."

Ryan looked at Horatio, who couldn't seem to hide his bewildered expression.

Even Derek looked a little surprised.

"You blamed Horatio for his death. If he hadn't have been hired there in the first place, then he wouldn't be dead now, is that it?"

Natalia nodded her head slowly.

"The shame is that Horatio Caine had nothing to do with Nick Townsend being hired. Nor with him being murdered. That is the faults of the crime scene cleaning company director who had hired him." Derek told her. "And the fault of the man that killed him, for stealing his wife's earring while on the job. Do you admit your guilt in this case; did you want revenge against Horatio Caine?"

Again, Natalia just nodded her head.

In return, Derek shook his. "I have no more questions."

The judge banged his gavel twice and then stood up. "This court is now in recess. We will resume in an hour."

The officers around the judge let Julia and her lawyer out of the room first, then Natalia and Dan. And then Derek and Horatio were permitted. Then, the rest of the court were allowed to leave.

Ryan immediately started looking for Horatio. But when he found him, Derek was walking away with him. Ryan had called out to Horatio a few times. He in turn, looked at him, and softly shook his head. Obviously, Ryan couldn't follow them.

He was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"It's standard, Ryan, you know that." Dave told him.

Ryan knew that was true. Horatio was going with Derek to discuss the rest of the case.

Dave looked at Ryan with extreme sympathy. "You wanna go get lunch together? I'll buy."

Ryan shook his head. "Oh, no, you go ahead. Maybe I'll catch up with you."

Dave agreed, and told Ryan that he would be in the restaurant just across the street if he did decide to join him. And he even made Ryan promise that he would.

The moment Ryan felt like he was alone, he suddenly felt nauseated. He rushed to the nearest bathroom to vomit.

Ryan's ears felt like they were ringing, his stomach hurt and his chest felt like there was a pit in it. He could faintly hear the sounds of someone's dress shoes connecting with the floor. And of course the pair of feet stopped in front of Ryan's stall. Then there were 4 short knocks on the door. "Hey are you okay in there?"

Ryan wiped his mouth and then frowned. "Rick? Is that you?"

"Ryan; are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's just the pregnancy." He flushed the toilet and came out of the stall. He washed his hands in the sink as Rick used the urinal. Ryan wasn't sure if he should wait for Rick or not, but he found himself doing it anyways. Rick made his way over to the sink and started washing his hands. Ryan was staring at the tiled floor underneath his feet when he heard Rick speak again.

"You didn't tell them I did it." He said. "You know; that I was a little _rough_ with Dan."

Ryan just nodded. He wasn't sure of what to say.

Rick dried his hands off and then sighed. "Thanks, Ryan."

Ryan looked at Rick, who was standing pretty close to him and staring into his eyes. "It's no problem. So what are you gonna do for the next hour?"

"Well not stay in the bathroom, that's for sure." Rick answered. Then he nudged Ryan's arm. "Wanna go get something to eat together?"

Ryan found himself smiling. And then he nodded his head.

"Yeah, sure. Dave's across the street, we can go eat with him."

And then Rick smiled too. "Sounds good. It'll be like old times. You know, except Horatio isn't kidnapped and we aren't solving his case right now."

When Ryan and Rick entered the little fast food place together, he felt a little self conscious. He saw Eric look at him. He knew that was probably not a good thing. But Dave still smiled and waved at them. Of course he was seated in the middle of the room.

Ryan sat down next to Dave, while Rick immediately went to the counter. Ryan noticed that Dave seemed to be glaring at Rick as he walked away from the two men.

"So what happened to not being alone with Rick?"

"We're not alone. We're with you."

"Yeah, well, what do you think Horatio will say when you tell him; think he'd understand?" Ryan couldn't help but notice Dave's tone. He seemed annoyed. Or maybe even angry. But what would he be angry about? He had told Ryan that he didn't have feelings for Rick anymore. Then again, he could have been lying.

Ryan couldn't answer, because Rick had already returned holding two drinks. He handed one to Ryan. "I got you some type of lemon-lime soda. That's good for nausea, right?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah it is. Thanks Rick."

"Also, I ordered you some french fries. I wasn't completely sure what you wanted, but I felt like a burger would upset your stomach again."

"Thank you, Rick."

Dave rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" He questioned. "Am I the only one that see's an issue with this?"

Ryan frowned. "What?"

"You're, _flirting_. Over fastfood. Get a freaking grip, guys." He answered. "Horatio just forgave you for cheating and now what are you doing- fucking it up again by spending time with Rick. After you just said that you wouldn't anymore. Ryan, I don't know what's up with you but I don't like it. And I know Horatio wouldn't like it either."

"Dave-"

And then he stood. "I'm sorry but until you get it together, I don't think I can hang out with either one of you anymore. Either leave Horatio and be with Rick, or leave Rick alone and stay with Horatio. Stop hurting the poor bastards and put them out of their misery."

Rick shrugged. "Dave, stop being so dramatic."

Dave looked absolutely stunned. " _Me_?" His voice raised a little, and Ryan looked around to make sure no one was looking at them. Luckily, he didn't see any eyes on them. "I'm the dramatic one when just a few weeks ago you called me practically freaking out and crying over how in love with Ryan you are and how you'll 'never get someone like him'? Get over it, Rick."

"Why don't you get over your stupid crush on me and just leave me alone?"

"Gladly." Dave picked up the fries and drink he had on the table and then left them. Ryan watched as he went to another table and sat and huffed.

Ryan was staring at the drink in front of him. He was thinking about Dave's outburst and how random it seemed. He could vaguely hear Rick saying something to him, but he couldn't quite make out what he was saying. He could feel Rick's hand on his shoulder. But Ryan shook his head. "Horatio would _lose_ his mind if I told him I was with you right now." Ryan sighed. "While we were investigating what happened to Horatio, I feel like we became closer. And maybe even friends. Am I wrong?"

Rick answered, "No, you're right. I think we became closer as well."

"I _want_ to be your friend. But I don't think we can be just platonic given the fact that you like me, and the fact that Horatio wouldn't like it, since what happened between us."

Rick rolled his eyes. "Oh give me a break. I am more than capable of being just friends and that's all I'm trying to do here." He replied. "It was one kiss and you've made it clear that it was a mistake to you. Horatio should just get over it."

"I think if the roles were reversed it wouldn't be something I could just 'get over'." Ryan stood up and started leaving. Rick had reached out for him, but had missed by just a few inches. "Damn it, Ryan, I already paid for the food!" He groaned, and followed after the man.

x

x

x

Sorry I haven't been posting. I hope this covers for me.

 _-V_


	10. Chapter 10

Ten:

"Horatio, I love you."

Horatio just smiled and chuckled as he continued to brush his teeth. "What do you want?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, I'm serious. I just love you. That's all."

"Well I love you, too."

"You know I would do anything for you, right?" Ryan questioned. Horatio spit into the sink and then rinsed his mouth out. "If something bad happened, I would want you to know that I would do anything to help or protect you."

"I would do the same for you. Is something wrong? You've been acting strange since we got back from court today." Horatio's voice was laced with worry. He had noticed Ryan seemed off today, but he wouldn't tell him what was wrong. Still, Ryan shook his head. "If you wanna have one or two more kids, I would do that for you. If you wanted a whole basketball team, I would give that to you."

Horatio smiled again and gave Ryan a hug. To his small surprise, and comfort, Ryan had wrapped his arms tightly around Horatio. A lot more tight than usual, but not tight enough for it to hurt either one of them.

"Ryan, just tell me what's wrong."

But Ryan didn't say anything. Instead he just moved his arms from around Horatio's waist, to behind his neck instead. And then Ryan kissed him. Hard. And of course, Horatio kissed him back. Not quite forgetting that something was up, but just pushing it to the back of his head for now.

When Ryans arms disappeared from the back of Horatio's neck, he immediately missed the contact. But that was replaced when he felt the towel that was wrapped around his lower body being pulled off.

Horatio smiled and stopped Ryan, who seemed a little startled. He hadn't expected Horatio to stop him. That was just something he didn't do.

Horatio was still grinning at Ryan. He sighed out. "Bedroom, Ryan?" His voice echoed in Ryan's mind. Ryan nodded eagerly and took Horatio's hand. Horatio led him back into their bedroom. The bed was made already, as Ryan hated not having a made bed. It was his OCD. But he didn't mind messing it up for this reason.

Ryan briefly thought about getting down on his knees, but seeing that he was pregnant, he had to think of the consequences- getting back up. But it seemed that Horatio had been reading his mind. He told Ryan to sit on the bed instead, and of course, he did as he was told. Horatio barely had time to position himself the right way before Ryan had already grabbed the man and pulled him closer to him. Ryan immediately pressed his lips against Horatio's stomach and started kissing the skin lightly.

But those light kisses started turning into hard bites and sucking, leaving behind harsh, angry looking purple and red marks on the lieutenant's body. And Horatio in turn, seemed to be enjoying it. He was breathing slowly and looking down at Ryan, all the while his lips were pursed tight together.

Then when he felt warm, soft hands touching his cock, Horatio sucked in his breath. Which of course, Ryan took as a sign to keep going. He started rubbing it starting off with slow, long strokes, then progressing to shorter, more vigorous strokes. As Ryan moved faster, as did Horatio's breathing.

Ryan stopped moving his hand, causing Horatio to instantly want the warm contact back. But that was replaced with something warm and very wet. Horatio breathed out, shuddering and gripped onto Ryans hair. Horatio's breathing was increasing, getting more harsh and more rapid. It had been a long time since he had felt Ryan's mouth on him. And he would be an absolute liar if he had said he didn't miss the contact.

Horatio pushed Ryan down further onto him, holding him there for what felt like forever. Ryan's eyes closed tightly and Horatio could hear the soft sounds of him breathing. Or, trying to take in air to breathe.

When Horatio released his grip from Ryan, he gasped out loud and had to wipe his mouth off, to keep the saliva from running down his chin. But Ryan didn't have enough time to recuperate. Horatio had already grabbed his arm and was forcing him to stand up. Horatio didn't even bother with taking off Ryan's shirt. He just went for his pants. And luckily for him, he wasn't still in his suit pants. Nor was he in jeans. Ryan was in the sweatpants he owned specifically for sleeping. Because he had already had a shower, and now after this he would definitely need another one.

Horatio yanked the sweatpants down, and Ryan put his hands on his shoulder to stable himself as he got them completely off. The second they were discarded on the floor, Horatio was telling him to lay down.

Ryan of course, did as he was told. Horatio wasted no time in getting onto the bed with him, lifting Ryans legs and wrapping them around his own waist.

Horatio had spit into his own hand and started rubbing himself with it. Ryan smiled at the man. "No fingers this time?" He questioned.

Horatio shook his head no, as he started wiping the remainder of his saliva onto Ryan's hole. Ryan tensed up, but Horatio was kissing him, to relax him.

Ryan always loved kissing Horatio. It was familiar. But it was far from boring.

In between kisses, Ryan's voice was muffled as Horatio slowly inserted himself inside of Ryan. He stopped kissing Horatio back, and instead stilled, with his eyes shut tight and his mouth was wide open.

Even though all Horatio wanted to do was to just fuck Ryan senseless, he decided to take it slow. They hadn't had sex in 6 months, and now here they were. And they didn't even have lube or lubricated condoms. He didn't want to hurt Ryan. That was the last thing he wanted.

Ryans voice was soft, as he let out little whimper-like sounds each time Horatio pulled almost completely out, and then pushed back, onto the hilt. He had to close his mouth and bite his lip to be sure that their sleeping daughter wouldn't hear them.

Horatio also had to keep his voice low. He had always loved the sounds Ryan made when they had sex.

He could feel Ryan starting to grind himself harder, and his legs were bringing Horatio closer to him, though he couldn't go any deeper. But he could certainly go faster. He started to pick up speed, along with Ryan. Every time Ryan pushed himself closer to him, Horatio would slam into him, causing loud gasps that Ryan just couldn't control.

Each time Ryan got too loud, Horatio would give a quick smack to his ass. Which only seemed to make Ryan moan out more.

Soon, Horatio could feel Ryan tightening around him. His breathing sped up and he was full-blown moaning and crying out for Horatio to go faster. Horatio started speeding up, as much as he could at least, not even caring about Ryans volume at that point. And when Ryan started orgasming, Horatio didn't slow down.

Ryans own stomach was coated in cum and Horatio finished soon after, filling Ryan up.

Horatio watched as Ryan closed his eyes again. He was definitely breathing heavily.

"You okay, Ryan?"

Ryan quickly nodded, his eyes still closed. "Yeah, I'm good." But Horatio wasn't so sure. And he had no idea if the man was just tired after their having sex. Or if something was wrong. But he decided not to press. He figured if he kept asking, then Ryan would have just gotten annoyed. And he knew that if it was serious, Ryan would tell him. Eventually.

Horatio grabbed a wet cloth and wiped Ryan's stomach off for him, as he couldn't be bothered moving. Ryan mumbled out a thanks, but his eyes remained shut. Horatio watched him for a while. He decided to lay down next to Ryan. Slowly, Horatio reached over and lightly touched Ryan's hair, running his fingers through it. Ryan slowly started to smile and he finally opened his eyes.

.

"So, I was looking into this poison theory you had, Ryan."

Ryan was sitting at his desk when Walter came over to get him. He said he had something he needed to talk to him about. So Ryan followed him into one of the lab rooms.

"What'd you get?"

"No gases or poisons. But a drug." Walter handed Ryan a piece of paper. Even though it was all spelled out, he still explained it to him. "Clonazepam. Usually used to treat panic disorders and seizures. But in this case, mixing it with alcohol can cause someone to pass out and not have any or hazy memory."

"Is it hard to get?"

"Only prescribed by doctors."

"Someone at the party had it?"

Walter shook his head. "Nope. Actually, the effects of clonazepam vary, but it usually takes 2 to 4 hours from ingestion in order for it to actually make someone pass out."

Ryan frowned. "So that means someone had to have given it to Holly hours before she came to the party."

Walter handed Ryan another paper. Ryan glanced at it once, looked at Walter, then back to the paper. He even blinked a few times to make sure he was reading it correctly. "Wait, wait. She took it herself? It's prescribed to her."

"Exactly. Clonazepam isn't always detected by drug and alcohol tests. Since the hospital tested her for date-rape drugs, it didn't show up in her system. She must have taken it before the party, and then passed out. Someone saw an opportunity to hurt her and they did."

"This still doesn't explain who hurt her and why. Or why the reports came back clean for alcohol in her system." Ryan sighed. "Thanks Walter."

Walter nodded. But then he stopped. "This is just my hunch- could be completely unrelated though."

Ryan was listening. "What's up?"

"Remember a few weeks back someone sent the lab a virus? Took Dave days to get rid of it."

"Yeah. It was sent in an email as some prank to the lab by some bored college student."

"Well, the college student in question's name was Brian Park." Walter told him. "And I remember interviewing him. He's a med student. I know that med students shadow doctors and have internships at the hospital. Could just be a coincidence, but-"

"Nothing in our line of work is a coincidence, Walter. You should definitely have Eric look more into it with you. And see what else you can find out about Brian Park."

Ryan nodded and handed the papers back to Walter, taking in the information that he was just told. Even though he wasn't technically on the case, since he was just stuck on desk duty, it still meant a lot to him that Walter was still keeping him involved in the case. Ryan hated not knowing what was happening or what was going in.

He started to head back to his desk, when he heard the distinct sound of the elevator chiming. Ryan looked over, and saw Rick. He had started to exit, but when he locked eyes with Ryan, he stopped. Then he pushed a button on the elevator. All the while, he just stared.

Ryan looked to their receptionist, who was busy sucking down a smoothie and looking at her phone. She wasn't even paying attention to Ryan. So he thought, but then again, she never seemed to know much. But as it turned out last time, she knew everything.

There were 3 officers standing around talking. And he could see Eric walking toward the elevator as well. But of course, he stopped when he saw Rick Stetler. He would probably wait for the next elevator instead of getting onto one with him.

Ryan felt his heart quickening as Eric looked at him. But Ryan pretended not to notice, he just quickly moved his feet until he was standing next to Rick. Then Rick pushed another button, and the doors shut, and they were moving up.

Rick and Ryan walked passed the people on the floor. They all shot Ryan knowing glances. It could have all been in his head. But he was sure that it wasn't. When Ryan was in Rick's office, he waited for him to shut the door.

"You were coming for me?"

"Yes, and luckily for me I didn't have to go far." Rick answered. "Now, quickly, before anyone comes and looks for me- I've been in meetings all day."

Ryan nodded and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a sheet of paper, all of which were filled up with Ryan's own handwriting. "Here it is. I wrote it all down for you." He told him. "But Rick, I think we both know how much that I stress that it cannot get out that I gave this to you. Horatio would-"

"Relax, Ryan. I won't tell Horatio." He assured him. "Besides, why would I tell him that you're helping me to help Ron Saris? Why would I tell anyone for that matter?"

"I don't know, but I'm serious, Rick. You get Ron Saris out of Miami and out of our lives. You promised."

Rick grinned. "I do believe you also promised me something in return."

Ryan almost rolled his eyes. But he sighed and shook his head. "And I intend to keep my promise, so long as you do as well. You get Ron Saris out of Miami, and I will tell Horatio the truth."

Rick hummed in response. He was still smiling.

Which made Ryan glare at him.

"You just want me to hurt him. You don't like seeing him happy." Ryan told him.

To which Rick nodded. "I care about my happiness more than his. So sue me." Then unexpectedly, Ryan was pulled by Rick. Ryan stilled as Rick wrapped his arms around him. Was Rick Stetler hugging Ryan? Ryan gave Rick an awkward pat on his back. Then when Rick let go of him, Rick had chuckled. "I'm sorry, was that too soon? Or maybe you're just not a hugger?"

"It was just kind of different."

"Well, you need to get used to it. I know it's awkward now, but give it time. Unless you don't want me to. Then just let me know and I won't do it again." Rick went to his desk and sat down. "You know how I feel Ryan, and I wouldn't do something to intentionally make you feel uncomfortable."

Ryan nodded his head, feeling slightly confused. He had started for the door. He turned the handle and poked his head out. Still paranoid. When he deemed it safe enough, he exited the room. But not before turning back around. "Rick, it's not," he paused, trying to find the right word. Rick looked at him curiously. "It's not unwanted, I guess. I'm not uncomfortable. I just wasn't expecting it. Give a guy some warning before-hand."

He left the office as quickly as he could, and got right back on the elevators to go back downstairs.

Rick looked over the paper Ryan had given him. He even started mumbling the words to himself as he read it. After he read the paper maybe 3 or 4 more times, he picked up the phone and dialed a number. It rang 3 times before a voice was on the other line. Rick leaned back in his chair. "This is Rick Stetler, I'm calling for Ron Saris."

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What do you guys think is happening? Or are you totally confused? Haha, I would love to hear your guys' thoughts! Thanks so much for reading.

I'm still not great at writing smut.

-V


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